Forensic risk assessment in mental health practice: Part 2

In the last 20 years, risk assessment has expanded to mean much more than a simple determination of how dangerous an individual is. Risk formulations now encapsulate the assessment process more generally, and provide the basis for the identification of treatment needs, the development of supervision and risk reduction plans. In the first part of this series, the fluid nature of violence risk was emphasized. Further to this, it was pointed out that violence risk often changes over time and is heavily dependent on context. Part 2 expands on some of these ideas by considering some basic principles of forensic risk assessment and identifying some key issues which touch on the risk assessment and management processes.