A review of progress in violence risk assessment methods

Violence often occurs among patients with mental disorders. The risk of violence is assessed under the demand of psychiatric clinical treatment or forensic assessment. Corresponding therapeutic intervention strategies could be developed according to the outcome of the assessment. Currently, violence risk assessment methods are mainly divided into actuarial assessment and structured professional judgement. Scientific and objective assessment results support judicial decisions and risk management. However, all the assessment methods have certain shortcomings, and there is still room for improvement. This paper reviews several tools of violence risk assessment and their research progress, focusing on the main content of each tool and its applicability. The review aimed to provide a reference for the selection and application of violence risk assessment tools and optimization of violence risk assessment methods in the future. Key points  The violence risk assessment methods are widely used in psychiatric clinical treatment or forensic assessment, but all the methods have certain shortcomings.The review discussed main contents and research progress of several violence risk assessment tools in order to explore applicability of each tool.The review aimed to provide a reference for the selection and application of violence risk assessment tools and optimization of violence risk assessment methods in the future.