The evolution of violence risk assessment

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Clinical Psychiatry
• Risk Management

Background:

• Numerous instruments exist to aid mental health clinicians in assessing an individual's risk of future violence.
• Legal mandates increasingly require specialized risk assessments in various clinical and forensic settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a framework for understanding structured approaches to violence risk assessment.
• To guide clinicians in selecting appropriate risk assessment instruments.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on violence risk assessment instruments.
• Development of a conceptual framework describing a continuum of structured assessment approaches.
• Analysis of evidence comparing the predictive accuracy of different instruments.

Main Results:

• A continuum of structured approaches, moving beyond the clinical/actuarial dichotomy, is proposed.
• Limited evidence suggests significant differences in predictive accuracy among various violence risk assessment instruments.
• The choice of instrument should align with the specific purpose of the risk assessment.

Conclusions:

• Structured instruments are valuable tools for individual violence risk assessment.
• The selection of a specific instrument should be guided by the assessment's objective and context.
• Further research may be needed to differentiate the utility of various instruments across different forensic populations.