In various systems (the courts, police, health system, etc.), decisions are reached about individuals on the basis of the level of their dangerousness. While these systems demand that professionals assess a person’s “level of dangerousness,” there is no clear legal or professional (psychological or other) standard for this procedure.
The goal of the current review is to present procedures that assess violent behavior towards others or that assess suicidal behavior. The review focuses on the possibility of using certain instruments as decision support instruments in four situations.
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Assessing violent behavior toward another person for the purpose of a non-voluntary psychiatric intervention (compulsory hospitalization)
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Assessing violent behavior toward another person for the purpose of issuing or revoking a firearms license
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Assessing violent behavior toward a wife or partner for the purpose of domestic intervention
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Assessing suicidal behavior to support a decision for compulsory hospitalization.
The review focuses on instruments that consist of a synthesis of the clinical and actuarial approaches. We emphasize the studies that attempt to examine the predictive validity and not only the concurrent validity and those that focus on populations that are as close as possible to our target populations.
In light of the review, we present recommendations for the use of various instruments as decision support instruments in the four situations. The recommendations are chiefly in the direction of adapting certain instruments and/or conducting a preliminary study, while indicating the possible weaknesses of the instruments and of adapting them.
The review was commissioned by the Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Mental Health Services, Ministry of Health, and the National Social Work Service at the Ministry of Health and was funded by the National Social Work Service at the Ministry of Health.
The report has not been printed but can be read and downloaded free of charge