The SAPROF (Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors for violence risk) is a structured professional judgment (SPJ) tool developed to assess the protective factors for violence risk in adult offenders. The tool complements other risk assessment and actuarial tools used to assess the risk of future violent behaviour.
SAPROF was developed in the Netherlands in 2007 as an instrument for the structured assessment of protective factors for violence risk. Following the structured professional judgment model, the SAPROF was designed as a positive addition to other SPJ risk assessment tools, such as the HCR-20, [1] which at the time was considered the most widely used tool for structured professional judgement. [2]
Frequent users of the SAPROF in forensic psychiatry state that the instrument can be helpful in formulating treatment goals, justifying stages of treatment, atoning treatment phasing and facilitating risk communication. [3]
Vivienne de Vogel, Corine de Ruiter, Yvonne Bouman and Michiel de Vries Robbé originally developed the SAPROF in Dutch in 2007, later translated to English and German. [4]
The first study demonstrating predictive validity of the SAPROF was published in 2011. [2] A 2023 review including 39 articles with 5,434 subjects from 16 countries found that the SAPROF "showed good interrater reliability and moderate-to-good predictive performance for the absence of recidivism and institutional misconduct". [5]
Forensic psychology is the practice of psychology applied to the law. Forensic psychology is the application of scientific knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions arising in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes research on various psychology-law topics, such as jury selection, reducing systemic racism in criminal law, eyewitness testimony, evaluating competency to stand trial, or assessing military veterans for service-connected disability compensation. The American Psychological Association's Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists reference several psychology subdisciplines, such as social, clinical, experimental, counseling, and neuropsychology.
Criminal psychology, also referred to as criminological psychology, is the study of the views, thoughts, intentions, actions and reactions of criminals and suspects. It is a subfield of criminology and applied psychology.
Forensic psychiatry is a subspeciality of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiatry in which scientific and clinical expertise is applied in legal contexts involving civil, criminal, correctional, regulatory, or legislative matters, and in specialized clinical consultations in areas such as risk assessment or employment." A forensic psychiatrist provides services – such as determination of competency to stand trial – to a court of law to facilitate the adjudicative process and provide treatment, such as medications and psychotherapy, to criminals.
Neuropsychological assessment was traditionally carried out to assess the extent of impairment to a particular skill and to attempt to determine the area of the brain which may have been damaged following brain injury or neurological illness. With the advent of neuroimaging techniques, location of space-occupying lesions can now be more accurately determined through this method, so the focus has now moved on to the assessment of cognition and behaviour, including examining the effects of any brain injury or neuropathological process that a person may have experienced.
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to extinguish. It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.
Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public health problem that can have long-lasting effects on individuals, families, and communities. Preventing suicide requires strategies at all levels of society. This includes prevention and protective strategies for individuals, families, and communities. Suicide can be prevented by learning the warning signs, promoting prevention and resilience, and committing to social change.
Emergency psychiatry is the clinical application of psychiatry in emergency settings. Conditions requiring psychiatric interventions may include attempted suicide, substance abuse, depression, psychosis, violence or other rapid changes in behavior.
Suicide intervention is a direct effort to prevent a person or persons from attempting to take their own life or lives intentionally.
In England, the First-tier Tribunal , more commonly known as the Mental Health Tribunal, is an independent quasi-judicial body established to safeguard the rights of persons subject to the Mental Health Act 1983. It provides for consideration of appeals against the medical detention or forced treatment of a person who was deemed to be suffering from a mental disorder that was associated with a risk to the health or safety of that person or others.
The Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200) is a psychological test for personality diagnosis and clinical case formulation, developed by psychologists Jonathan Shedler and Drew Westen. SWAP-200 is completed by a mental health professional based on their observations and knowledge of a patient, client, or assessment subject. The person being assessed does not interact with the test. Because SWAP-200 is completed by the clinician, diagnostic findings do not depend on the accuracy of information people disclose about themselves and test results can not be faked. The SWAP instruments are based on over two decades of empirical research described in more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. SWAP-200 has been translated into fifteen languages. Other SWAP instruments include the revised SWAP-II and the SWAP-II-A for adolescents.
The psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is used in a broad range of helping professions in health and social care settings as well as by medical and social science researchers.
Suicide risk assessment is a process of estimating the likelihood for a person to attempt or die by suicide. The goal of a thorough risk assessment is to learn about the circumstances of an individual person with regard to suicide, including warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors. Risk for suicide is re-evaluated throughout the course of care to assess the patient's response to personal situational changes and clinical interventions. Accurate and defensible risk assessment requires a clinician to integrate a clinical judgment with the latest evidence-based practice, although accurate prediction of low base rate events, such as suicide, is inherently difficult and prone to false positives.
Psychopathy is a mental health condition characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been used throughout history that are only partly overlapping and may sometimes be contradictory.
Forensic social work is the application of social work to questions and issues relating to the law and legal systems. It is a type of social work that involves the application of social work principles and practices in legal, criminal, and civil contexts. It is a specialized branch of social work that focuses on the intersection of law and mental health. Forensic social work is an important part of the criminal justice system and provides an important link between mental health and the legal system.
The Psychopathy Checklist or Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, now the Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R), is a psychological assessment tool that is commonly used to assess the presence and extent of the personality trait psychopathy in individuals—most often those institutionalized in the criminal justice system—and to differentiate those high in this trait from those with antisocial personality disorder, a related diagnosable disorder. It is a 20-item inventory of perceived personality traits and recorded behaviors, intended to be completed on the basis of a semi-structured interview along with a review of "collateral information" such as official records. The psychopath tends to display a constellation or combination of high narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorder traits, which includes superficial charm, charisma/attractiveness, sexual seductiveness and promiscuity, affective instability, suicidality, lack of empathy, feelings of emptiness, self-harm, and splitting. In addition, sadistic and paranoid traits are usually also present.
A psychiatric assessment, or psychological screening, is the process of gathering information about a person within a psychiatric service, with the purpose of making a diagnosis. The assessment is usually the first stage of a treatment process, but psychiatric assessments may also be used for various legal purposes. The assessment includes social and biographical information, direct observations, and data from specific psychological tests. It is typically carried out by a psychiatrist, but it can be a multi-disciplinary process involving nurses, psychologists, occupational therapist, social workers, and licensed professional counselors.
Communities That Care (CTC) is a program of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in the office of the United States Government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CTC is a coalition-based prevention operating system that uses a public health approach to prevent youth problem behaviors such as violence, delinquency, school drop out and substance abuse. Using strategic consultation, training, and research-based tools, CTC is designed to help community stakeholders and decision makers understand and apply information about risk and protective factors, and programs that are proven to make a difference in promoting healthy youth development, in order to most effectively address the specific issues facing their community's youth.
David Philip Bernstein was professor of forensic psychotherapy at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, an endowed chair jointly sponsored by Forensic Psychiatric Center "de Rooyse Wissel". His work is also supported by the Expertise Center for Forensic Psychiatry (EFP). At Maastricht University, Bernstein leads the forensic psychology section, which is embedded within the department of clinical psychological science. Bernstein has served as President of the Association for Research on Personality Disorders, Vice President of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders and Vice President of the International Society for Schema Therapy.
Ronald Roesch is a professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.
The Association for Psychological Therapies (APT) is a body providing recognition of excellence, training, resources, and accreditation to professionals working in Mental Health and related areas, mainly in the UK's National Health Service and Independent Health providers, but also in Canada and Australia.