Covert and Implicit Influences on the Interpretation of Violence Risk Instruments. Issue 2 (4th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shepherd, Stephane M.; Sullivan, Danny
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry, psychology, and law. Volume 24:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 292
• Page End: 301
• Publication Date: 2017-03-04
• Subjects: expert testimony -- forensic assessment -- forensic psychiatry -- violence risk assessment -- violence risk instruments; Criminal psychology -- Periodicals; Forensic psychiatry -- Periodicals; Mentally ill offenders -- Periodicals; 345.9404
• DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2016.1197817
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1321-8719

Abstract

Abstract : Forensic mental health practitioners are frequently asked to estimate the risk of future violence. Legal decisions concerning the sentencing, management and disposition of offenders often rely on the advice of such testimony. The burgeoning use of violence risk instruments in these settings undoubtedly injects a level of scientific rigour into forensic evaluations for courts and tribunals. Yet scrutiny of the inherent limitations of both risk instruments and the inferences and formulations drawn from them are often veiled by the discipline's endorsement for such approaches. Misconceptions about the validity and dependability of present-day risk assessments and expert infallibility persist. The furtive influences that shape both the (mis)interpretation and miscommunication of risk instruments in legal settings necessitate discussion.