Introduction to Risk Assessment

Catalog description

Assessing and managing violence risk is an expanding area of forensic psychology. Over the past 20 years, research has led to the identification of empirically derived risk factors associated with violence and sexual offense recidivism and the development of specialized risk assessment tools. These tools have incresed the predictive ability above that of clinical judgement, as well as influenced public discourse and policies related to the management of violent and sexual offenders. Emipically-validated risk assessments have applications in a wide array of mental health and criminal justice proceedings including aiding fact-triers with regard to civil commitment (Sexually Dangerous Persons/Sexually Violent Predators), pre-trial mitigation, and setencing; family courts in determining custody issues and safety planning; community supervising agencies (parole and probation) in offender classification and allocation of resources; and treatment providers in guiding interventions. Psychologists are best suited to conduct violence risk assessments and psychosexual evaluations. Our specialized education and training in behavioral sciences provides decision-makers with evidence-based tools aimed at violence prevention.