Dr. JulioE. Arboleda-Flórez,
MD, PhD, DLF,FRCPC, DABFP, FACFP, FABFE, DFCPA,HFWASP, HMWPA, DLFAPA, EACP, FRSM
Julio Arboleda-Flórez, past-president and Honorary Fellow of the World Association of Social Psychiatry (WASP), died in Kingston, Ontario, Canada on March 30, 2020. Prof. Arboleda-Flórez was Professor Emeritus and past Chair of the Dept. of Psychiatry and Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Health Sciences at Queen’s University in Kingston. Prof. Arboleda-Flórez graduated in Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa; in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Toronto; and in Epidemiology (PhD) at the University of Calgary. He was Director of Queen’s/PAHO/WHO Regional Unit for Research and Training in Psychiatric Epidemiology. As well as his past presidency of WASP, he was past President of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, and contributed to the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) in numerous ways, notably as Chair of the WPA Forensic Psychiatry Section.
Prof. Arboleda-Flórez is remembered with affection and esteem as a kind and generous man and loyal friend and contributed significantly to WASP, having been elected President at the XIX WASP World Congress in Prague, Czech Republic in 2007 and presided at the XX WASP World Congress in Marrakech, Morocco in 2010 as Congress Co-President. He was in the very first cohort of WASP Honorary Fellows in 2013 and was also a Distinguished Fellow of both the Canadian and American Psychiatric Associations.
Prof. Arboleda-Flórez’s considerable contributions to WASP and to world psychiatry are significant in several areas, including: psychiatric epidemiology, psychiatric ethics, forensic psychiatry, and social psychiatry. He made pioneering contributions along with his wife Prof. Heather Stuart and Prof. Norman Sartorius to combat stigma in psychiatry.
The WASP Executive Committee joins our member associations in Canada and around the world to extend our sincere and heartfelt condolences to his wife, Prof. Heather Stuart, PhD, and their families and friends.
Key Publications in Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatric Epidemiology, and Social Psychiatry
- Holley, H. L., & Arboleda-Florez, J. (1988). Criminalization of the Mentally Ill: Part I. Police Perceptions. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 33(2), 81–86.
- Arboleda-Florez, J., & Holley, H. L. (1988). Criminalization of the Mentally Ill: Part II. Initial Detention. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 33(2), 87–95.
- Arboleda-Florez, J. ( 1997). Editorial: Psychiatric Epidemiology in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 42(7), 699-700.
- Arboleda-Flórez, J. (1998). Mental Illness and Violence: An Epidemiological Appraisal of the Evidence. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 43(10), 989–996.
- Okasha, A., Arboleda-Flórez, J., & Sartorius, N., eds. (2000). Ethics, Culture, and Psychiatry: International Perspectives. Washington, DC: APPI.
- Stuart, H., & Arboleda-Flórez, J. (2001). Community Attitudes toward People with Schizophrenia. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 46(3), 245–252.
- Arboleda-Flórez, J. (2002). Guest Editorial: On the Protean Nature of Crime. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 46(5), 519-521
- Arboleda-Flórez, J., & Stuart, H. (2012). From Sin to Science: Fighting the Stigmatization of Mental Illnesses. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57(8), 457–463.
- Stuart, H., Arboleda-Flórez, J., & Sartorius, N. (2012). Paradigms Lost: Fighting Stigma and the Lessons Learned. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Prof. Vincenzo Di Nicola
President of CASP, President-Elect of WASP
Montreal, QC, Canada
April 15, 2020