Forensic Psychology chapter 10 risk assessment
questions with verified answers
"Management" component of risk assessment Ans✓✓✓ focus is to
identify treatments and or interventions that might reduce the
individuals level of risk or what conditions need to be implemented to
manage the individual's risk
"Prediction" component of Risk assessment Ans✓✓✓ describes the
probability that an individual will commit future criminal or violent acts
focuses on identifying the risk factors that are related to this likelihood
of future violence
a True positive Ans✓✓✓ A correct prediction that occurs when a
person who is predicted to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g., a
violent act) does so
actuarial prediction Ans✓✓✓ Decisions are based on risk factors that
are selected and combined based on their empirical or statistical
association with a specific outcome
actuarial tools Ans✓✓✓ A pre-defined collection of risk factors are
rated and then combined into a statistical model that weights them
based on their empirical association with the outcome
The statistical model generates an overall estimate of risk
,Advantages: good reliability and accuracy
Disadvantages: nomothetic, may not generalize to different populations
ex. Violence Risk Appraisal Guide
(VRAG; Quinsey et al., 2001)
acute dynamic risk factors Ans✓✓✓ change rapidly within days, hours
or minutes and often occur just prior to an offence
these can include; negative mood, level of intoxication
Advantages of ROC Analysis Ans✓✓✓ The only procedure that allows
researchers to summarize accuracy in a way that is not biased by...
decision thresholds (i.e., scores on an assessment tool)
base rate of recidivism (like the correlation)
age of onset as a predictor of recidivism Ans✓✓✓ the younger you are
when you commit a violent offence the more likely you are to offend
again
,a study found that 50% of boys who committed a violent offence prior
to age 16 were convicted of a violent offence in early adulthood.
another study found that male youth who committed their first violent
acts prior to age 11 continued there violent behaviour into adulthood,
compared to 30% whose violence was between ages of 11 and 13
age of onset is not as strong a predictor for female offenders
Base rate Ans✓✓✓ represents the percentage of pep within a given
population who commit a criminal violent act
easier to predict frequent events versus infrequent events (duh)
Case Management: Benefits of a Strengths-Based Approach Ans✓✓✓
Builds rapport between the staff and client
Contributes to a collaborative style for building case plans and including
the client in the building process
Encourages client engagement and follow-through
Central 8 predictors of criminal conduct Ans✓✓✓ criminal history
antisocial attitudes
, associates
substance abuse
leisure/recreation activites
personality factors
familial relationships
education and employment
child protection risk assessment Ans✓✓✓ in voles the laws that iare in
placebo protect children from abuse
the risk of physical , sexual or neglect and the children's aid society
decides whether to temporarily remove a child rom his or her home or
to terminate parental rights.
Childhood history of maltreatment as a predictor of future violence
Ans✓✓✓ having history of childhood physical abuse or neglect is
associated with increased risk for violence
being abused in childhood predicts initiation into delinquency, but
continued abuse predicts chronic offending
physical abuse in adolescents is also related to some types of offending
in adulthood as well .
questions with verified answers
"Management" component of risk assessment Ans✓✓✓ focus is to
identify treatments and or interventions that might reduce the
individuals level of risk or what conditions need to be implemented to
manage the individual's risk
"Prediction" component of Risk assessment Ans✓✓✓ describes the
probability that an individual will commit future criminal or violent acts
focuses on identifying the risk factors that are related to this likelihood
of future violence
a True positive Ans✓✓✓ A correct prediction that occurs when a
person who is predicted to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g., a
violent act) does so
actuarial prediction Ans✓✓✓ Decisions are based on risk factors that
are selected and combined based on their empirical or statistical
association with a specific outcome
actuarial tools Ans✓✓✓ A pre-defined collection of risk factors are
rated and then combined into a statistical model that weights them
based on their empirical association with the outcome
The statistical model generates an overall estimate of risk
,Advantages: good reliability and accuracy
Disadvantages: nomothetic, may not generalize to different populations
ex. Violence Risk Appraisal Guide
(VRAG; Quinsey et al., 2001)
acute dynamic risk factors Ans✓✓✓ change rapidly within days, hours
or minutes and often occur just prior to an offence
these can include; negative mood, level of intoxication
Advantages of ROC Analysis Ans✓✓✓ The only procedure that allows
researchers to summarize accuracy in a way that is not biased by...
decision thresholds (i.e., scores on an assessment tool)
base rate of recidivism (like the correlation)
age of onset as a predictor of recidivism Ans✓✓✓ the younger you are
when you commit a violent offence the more likely you are to offend
again
,a study found that 50% of boys who committed a violent offence prior
to age 16 were convicted of a violent offence in early adulthood.
another study found that male youth who committed their first violent
acts prior to age 11 continued there violent behaviour into adulthood,
compared to 30% whose violence was between ages of 11 and 13
age of onset is not as strong a predictor for female offenders
Base rate Ans✓✓✓ represents the percentage of pep within a given
population who commit a criminal violent act
easier to predict frequent events versus infrequent events (duh)
Case Management: Benefits of a Strengths-Based Approach Ans✓✓✓
Builds rapport between the staff and client
Contributes to a collaborative style for building case plans and including
the client in the building process
Encourages client engagement and follow-through
Central 8 predictors of criminal conduct Ans✓✓✓ criminal history
antisocial attitudes
, associates
substance abuse
leisure/recreation activites
personality factors
familial relationships
education and employment
child protection risk assessment Ans✓✓✓ in voles the laws that iare in
placebo protect children from abuse
the risk of physical , sexual or neglect and the children's aid society
decides whether to temporarily remove a child rom his or her home or
to terminate parental rights.
Childhood history of maltreatment as a predictor of future violence
Ans✓✓✓ having history of childhood physical abuse or neglect is
associated with increased risk for violence
being abused in childhood predicts initiation into delinquency, but
continued abuse predicts chronic offending
physical abuse in adolescents is also related to some types of offending
in adulthood as well .
