Virtual reality applications in forensic psychiatry

Violent offending behaviours remain an important issue in particular when associated with mental illness. To prevent recidivism and protect society, investments are required to develop new tools that would provide decision makers with a better understanding of violent behaviours and ultimately improve treatment options for violent offenders. Recently, Virtual Reality (VR) is gaining recognition as promising tool in forensic psychiatry. Amongst other things, VR allows a renewal from both methodological and theoretical points of view. The aim of this paper is to introduce VR applications in the context of forensic psychiatry. After a brief introduction to the purpose of forensic psychiatry, examples will be given in order to illustrate how VR can help address some of the field's current issues.