About

I am passionate about improving clinical practice and service systems for people with a disability and or serious mental illness involved in or at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. My primary research and clinical focus has been on assessing and addressing the underlying causes of aggression and violence, identifying and providing alternatives to restrictive practices and institutionalisation and understanding and responding to the unmet needs communicated by challenging (or challenged) behaviour. I have conducted a randomised controlled trial in two mental health units in regional Victoria (Griffith, Daffern and Godber, 2013) examining the predictive validity of the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA: Ogloff & Daffern, 2006), and have completed a second RCT examining the validity of a Clinical Decision Support System incorporating the DASA (eDASA) within two forensic mental health units within Thomas Embling Hospital. The results of this trial are recently published in Psychiatric Services.
I am currently developing novel tools to enhance quality of care. I have a particular passion for working with neurodivergent people.