Forensic Assessment of Violence Risk: A Guide for Risk Assessment and Risk Management [Hardcover]

Mary Alice Conroy (Author), Daniel C. Murrie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0470049332 | ISBN-13: 978-0470049334 | Edition: 1

Forensic Assessment of Violence Risk: A Guide for Risk Assessment and Risk Management provides both a summary of research to date and an integrated model for mental health professionals conducting risk assessments, one of the most high-stakes evaluations forensic mental health professionals perform.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Conroy and Murie have written a unique book. Readers will appreciate the useful appendixes, which include risk-assessment instruments and sample reports. This is a wonderful resource for those interested in assessing dangerousness in others. Highly recommended." (Choice, 4/08)

"This is a very nice book, primarily aimed at psychology trainees and other professionals who are preparing for forensic careers. One of the things I like about this book is its primary focus on understanding, managing and communicating about violence risk rather than prediction of individual behavior. This is one of those "must have" books for forensic mental health professionals." (Journal of Psychiatric Practice, January 2008)

Review

Conroy and Murrie successfully capture the advances in risk assessment and forensic assessment seen particularly in the last decade. From task definition to risk communication, prediction to management, adolescents to adults, and civil to criminal contexts, they provide a range of useful information, examples, and conclusions. Forensic Assessment of Violence Risk is valuable for anyone involved in policy-making, litigation, assessment, or interventions related to the risk of violent behavior.
—Kirk Heilbrun, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Drexel University

This guide is indispensable for all forensic mental health professionals who assess violence risk for juveniles, psychiatric patients, sex offenders, and in the context of death penalty cases. The model Conroy and Murrie propose represents the integration of what is currently empirically established in terms of base rates for violence with the need to consider idiographic factors for the individual being evaluated.
—Alan M. Goldstein, Ph.D., ABPP, Board Certified in Forensic Psychology, Professor Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice - CUNY

Forensic Assessment of Violence Risk is both an accessible overview for the professional just beginning to conduct risk assessments and a stimulating update for the seasoned forensic risk assessment practitioner. It strikes a good balance between discussion of recent research and practical guidelines for practice.
—Mark D. Cunningham, Ph.D., ABPP, Dallas, TX

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470049332
• ISBN-13: 978-0470049334
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable guide for risk evaluators, December 3, 2011

By 

Derek Grimmell (Clinton, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Forensic Assessment of Violence Risk: A Guide for Risk Assessment and Risk Management (Hardcover)

This book divides into four sections of different sizes.
The first is a short section on the development, legal and scientific, of violence risk assessment. Most of the key cases and all the main turning points are mentioned here. If you plan to practice you should still read each of the cases mentioned directly, but you'll find that the most vital points of each are included in the text.
Second comes a step-by-step approach to violence risk assessment, which I found helpful and thorough. Even after doing a large number of these, I thought the Conroy/Murrie framework organized my thinking better than what I had previously been doing. Of particular benefit to me: the step on clarifying the referral question brings up several ways in which the exact statement of the question can invoke different legal standards or different scientific bases; the step on communication of violence risk includes references to some valuable research on how attorneys and judges respond to different ways of communicating risk. There are also sections on base rates, nomothetic variables of interest, idiographic factors affecting risk, and risk management (an increasingly important part of many referrals).
The third section covers four special areas: serious mentally ill; sex offenders; juveniles; and death penalty defendants. Despite all my previous reading, this book brought to my attention several unique aspects of these groups that I had not previously considered. For example, I knew that death penalty defendants could be sentenced to death because they posed a risk, but I hadn't known that there was some research available on the types of factors that predict violence risk within the institution -- since there is no realistic chance of their ever leaving prison again. In particular, the authors presented ideas for assessing the risk of violence against other inmates versus against staff.
Fourth there are a couple of appendices covering all the available risk assessment tools and sample reports.
Overall, one of the most useful manuals I have read in a good long while.