At triage, violence risk assessment should consider the presence of antisocial behaviour and violent victimisation, substance use, male gender and frequency of inpatient admissions. Common treatment targets for the prevention of post-diagnostic violence include criminality and victimisation. Treatment of positive symptoms should be of greater emphasis for individuals without a history of pre-diagnostic violence.

Adolescent females who have engaged in severe and/or chronic offending are an understudied population internationally. The literature on female offending pathways has indeed advanced, and there is a better understanding of how female offending behaviours manifest and how correctional agencies should be responding. However, much of the existing research has focused on the risk factors and retrospective biographical narratives of adult female offenders. The present study focused on thematically exploring the selfreported life experiences and offending pathways of 36 detained adolescent females. Findings identified multiple themes including disconnection from education, early caregiver disruption/family separation, personal and family mental health problems, polysubstance abuse, antisocial peers, victimisation and anger problems. The study identifies that early family disruption is an important factor that may contribute to later offending behaviour and other negative life events. Prevention efforts should begin with the family when it comes to high-risk young females.

Background Mental ill-health can impact an individual’s capacity to interact with others, make decisions, and cope with social challenges. This is of particular importance for many Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) individuals who may be at various stages of the acculturation process. The increasing diversity of the Australian population necessitates informed and culturally relevant services that meet the needs of a changing demographic. However the extant research on the mental health needs of CALD Australians is limited. This study aimed to further our understanding of the mental health needs of young CALD Australians by exploring the mental health concerns and social factors exhibited by CALD individuals accessing community based youth mental health services in two major cities. Methods We performed a series of logistic regression models to ascertain if a concert of factors (i.e., clinical, socio-economic, criminal justice system involvement, child maltreatment, social support) were associated with CALD status Results Comparisons across factors revealed no significant differences between groups. A small number of correlates differentiated between CALD and non-CALD participants (mental illness diagnosis during childhood, family history of mental illness/suicide, sensation seeking, sensitivity to punishment, maternal overprotection) however these factors were no longer meaningful after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Conclusions In help-seeking mainstream youth populations, cultural differences across clinical and environmental factors appear to be minimal.