The focus this week is on the assessment of general violent behavior. Lecture and reading material discussed static and dynamic risk factors associated with engaging in general violence towards others. After learning this, were there any risk factors that ‘surprised’ you as being a risk
for violence? Are there any other traits or characteristics that you believe are risk factors but which do not appear to be addressed by the discussed violence risk assessment tools?
What is your opinion about utilizing an actuarial risk assessment tool versus structured professional judgement? Would your opinion change in different settings. What is your opinion about the specific tools discussed — VRAG-Revised and the HCR-20, version 3?
What was the main finding of the Barber et al study (2012)? What is your opinion about whether an actuarial tool versus an SPJ tool would be more appropriate for a diversion program and why?
