Are people with mental illness more likely to be violent or victims of violence? How do connections between mental illness and violent affect others in the community?

These are just some of the questions to be explored at Griffith University’s Challenging the Mental Illness/Violence Nexus Conference in Brisbane on July 13 and14.

Convenor Professor Paul Mazerollefrom Griffith’s Violence Research and Prevention Program said the conference would focus on ways to help some of society’s most vulnerable people as well as discussing the broader consequences of mental illness.

“From violent offenders to victims of violence, workplaces, families and social settings, the connection between mental illness and violence has emerged as one of modern society’s most difficult and confronting issues,’’ Professor Mazerolle said.

“This conference will explore all aspects of the relationship between mental illness and violence, with an emphasis on challenges, controversies, and complexities.”

With international and local speakers from a wide range of academic, practitioner, and policy backgrounds, the conference aims to support greater information sharing between sectors, for positive social and justice outcomes.

Keynote Speakers include:

Professor Allan Fels AO: Chairman National Mental Health Commission

‘A contributing life: Challenging the stigma around mental illness and violence’

Emeritus Professor Jack Levin: Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict, Northeastern University, Boston, US

‘Mass murder and mental illness in the ‘age of terrorism’’

Professor Amy Holtzworth-Munroe: Indiana University US

‘Intimate partner violence and mediation for separating parents: Controversies, challenges, future directions’

Professor James Ogloff AM FAPS: Swinburne University of Technology/Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health

‘The challenge of policing people with mental illness’

WHAT: Challenging the Mental Illness/Violence Nexus Conference

WHEN: July 13 & 14 8.45am-4.30pm

WHERE: Mercure Hotel, Quay Street, Brisbane.

Media: Deborah Marshall 0413 156 601