Improving understanding of factors that contribute to violent and sexual offending is fundamental to the development of effective assessment, intervention and ultimately, prevention.

These factors have not been adequately investigated, with research largely focusing on correlates of violence (e.g., past violence, mental illness), rather than the causal psychological processes that are influenced by these factors. Violence remains poorly understood and risk assessment methodologies are limited.

Existing data and databases will be investigated to map violent presentations to acute services, police, corrective services, and mental health services. This work will enable an enhanced understanding of the impact of the internal and external factors that contribute to violence (e.g., personality, mental state, alcohol/drugs, context).

A derivative of understanding violence is the capacity to assess the risk of violence. The consequences of invalid assessments can be dire for offenders, victims and society. The challenge is to identify characteristics that increase violence propensity and use that information to determine the least restrictive yet most effective means of preventing further violence through intervention and management.