Evaluation of the HCR-20 Violence Risk Assessment Scheme in a Belgian forensic population

L Encéphale ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 447-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Claix ◽  
T.-H. Pham
Author(s):  
Antonella Pomilla

La centralità dei temi delle distorsioni cognitive e degli schemi maladattiviprecoci è stata da sempre annoverata dalla Terapia Cognitiva nell’originee nel mantenimento dei disturbi psicopatologici (Beck 1963; 1964; 1967; 1976).Nel corso degli ultimi decenni un rinnovato interesse verso tali costrutti ha interessatoanche la popolazione forense, laddove essi sono stati ricondotti alle spiegazionigiustificatorie pre o post comportamento-reato, in particolare quelli di aggressionesessuale (Gannon, Wright, Beech & Williams, 2006; Noferesty & Anary,2013; Carvalho & Nobre, 2014; Sigre-Leiros, Carvalho & Nobre, 2015). Riconoscendoil valore che tali costrutti hanno in termini di minimizzazione della responsabilitàpenale nonché rispetto alle conseguenze per la vittima (Di Tullio D’Elisiis,2006), il presente lavoro desidera riferire sugli approfondimenti in senso teoreticoe di ricerca prodotti dalla comunità scientifica. Verranno menzionati i riscontri insenso qualitativo sulle convinzioni distorte ed i processi cognitivi disfunzionalidescritti dagli approcci teorici che si sono interessati degli aggressori sessuali;laddove emersi dalla ricerca empirica, verranno indicati anche i riscontri in sensoquantitativo.Si considera l’importanza di annoverare anche i summenzionati contenuti cognitiviquali fattori di rischio tra gli altri tradizionalmente esaminati nella valutazionedel rischio di recidiva criminosa violenta (violence risk assessment).The centrality of the themes of cognitive distortions and early maladaptiveschemes has always been counted by Cognitive Therapy in the origin andin the maintenance of psychopathological disorders (Beck 1963; 1964; 1967;1976). Over the past few decades a renewed interest toward such constructs hasalso affected the forensic population, where they have been traced back to justifyingpre or postcrime-behavior explanations, particularly those of sexual assault(Gannon, Wright, Beech & Williams, 2006; Noferesty & Anary, 2013; Carvalho &Nobre, 2014; Sigre-Leiros, Carvalho & Nobre, 2015). Once that the value thatsuch constructs have in terms of minimizing criminal liability as well as the consequencesfor the victim has been acknowledged (Di Tullio D’Elisiis, 2006), thispaper aims to describe the theoretical and the research insights produced by thescientific community. The qualitative findings on the distorted beliefs and dysfunctionalcognitive processes described by the theoretical approaches dealing withsexual aggressors will be mentioned; should the emerge from the empirical research,quantitative findings will also be indicated.The importance of including the aforementioned cognitive contents such asrisk factors among the others traditionally examined in the assessment of the violentrecidivism risk (violence risk assessment) is also considered.


1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN S. DOUGLAS ◽  
CHRISTOPHER D. WEBSTER

The Historical, Clinical, and Risk Management (HCR-20) violence risk assessment scheme was coded in a sample of 75 Canadian male, federally sentenced, maximum-security offenders. The concurrent validity of the HCR-20 was assessed through comparison to other risk instruments and to the presence of several past indexes of violent and antisocial behavior. The HCR-20 showed moderate to strong relationships with the concurrent measures. The HCR-20 was as or more strongly related to past violence than were the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised or the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide. Scores above the median of the HCR-20 increased the odds of the presence of various measures of past violence and antisocial behavior by an average of four times. Although recognizing the limitations of a small sample and retrospective design, the results give some indication that the HCR-20 may be worth investigating as a useful tool for violence risk assessments in correctional samples.


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