A decade of therapeutic work at the department offorensic psychiatry of the Viersen State MentalHospital (LVR-Klinik Viersen) kindled his interestin the issue of institutional social climate.Matthew Tonkin, PhD, is a lecturer in forensicpsychology at Birmingham City University, UK. Hehas a wide range of research interests, includingvarious areas of investigative psychology and theassessment of social climate in secure settings.During his career he has been involved indeveloping and validating questionnaire measuresof social climate and in the monitoring of climatein secure settings.