Treatment Effects on Forensic Psychiatric Patients Measured with the HCR-20 Violence Risk Assessment Scheme

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2002.10471158

Abstract

This study focuses on the foundational issue of change in violence risk factors in forensic psychiatric patients across multiple assessment periods using the HCR-20 scheme. HCR-20 assessments performed on 150 forensic psychiatric patients at two special (forensic) hospitals in Sweden were studied in relation to the patients' time at institution, with the aim to investigate a possible relation between level of risk and time at institution. A sub-group was followed across an 18-month period of institutionalization to investigate possible changes in risk factors over time. The latter patients were assessed with the HCR-20 three times, with six months between the assessments. Patients with longer treatment times had lower scores on the HCR-20 Clinical and Risk Management sub-scales, compared to patients who had been admitted to the hospitals for a shorter period of time. This finding was particularly evident on the cross-sectional analyses with respect to the R scale. The clinical risk factors in the C scale also dropped overall in connection with treatment time across both cross-sectional and prospective analyses, although not as substantially as the R scale. The results are consistent with and provide support for the HCR-20 system's proposition that the C and R scales are dynamic, or prone to change.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, v. 1, issue 1, p. 25-36

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