¶ … instrument I selected is known as the HCR-20: assessing risk for violence. It functions as a list of salient factors that can be used to indicate the propensity for an individual to commit future acts of violence. It is crucial to realize that this instrument is predicated upon using previous indicators of violence to note the likelihood of future violence (Webster et al., 1997). Using it requires individuals to know a fairly good deal of the previous history of patients or subjects.
There are several forensics cases for which this instrument would be of practical usage, especially since assessing violence is one of the more common assessment tools for forensic psychologists (Lally, 2003). However, the majority of the cases would probably pertain to individuals who have a history within the criminal justice system. This includes subjects who are incarcerated, those who have previously been incarcerated, or those who are facing the chance that they may become incarcerated. Individuals involved with the criminal justice system, or perhaps who are involved with mental health issues, have a history of becoming prone to violence.
Quite simply, this instrument assesses the probability that an individual will commit acts of violence in the future. It is able to assess this likelihood by considering a number of relevant factors to violence such as childhood issues, substance abuse and mental health issues, as well as prior incidences of violence. When administered correctly it may provide a degree of sapience into the future tendencies of an individual to commit violence.
It strongly appears as though a specific population which this particular assessment could produce tangible value is that of incarcerated individuals who may be eligible for parole or probation -- or who may simply have finished serving their allotted time and will soon be free. There are a number of reasons as to why this specific population would benefit from the HCR-20. Firstly, as previously denoted, individuals involved in the criminal justice system tend to be involved in violence more than those who are not. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, is the fact that there are usually lengthy files of those who are involved in the criminal justice system. It is not uncommon for some offenders to have a history of interacting with such a system from the time they were juveniles. As such, the researcher then has a plethora of information to utilize to help him or her complete the entire checklist. Some of the information required on this checklist is extremely specific, and involves cognizance of background information.
Lastly, one of the reasons that such a an instrument would be useful for a population of prisoners that is set to be released into society again is because there are a variety of options that the criminal justice system can utilize instead of a releasing prisoners. There are options for halfway houses, substance abuse programs, and other mandates that can be issued pending the results of the HCR-20's assessment. As such, this assessment may directly affect the future safety of the public when used with this population setting.
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