Assessing Risk for Forensic Psychiatric Inpatient Violence: A Meta-analysis

Inpatient violence in psychiatric settings is a global problem, but it is particularly a problem in forensic settings containing a mix of acutely mentally ill and/or antisocial patients. The authors recognized a need for new ways to identify and to increase staff awareness and vigilance around at-risk patients. To this end, a literature review was initiated to synthesize the factors that predict forensic inpatient violence from existing literature. The results indicate that the HCR-20, the clinical scale in particular, and the Hare psychopathy scales may be particularly useful in assessing risk for forensic psychiatric inpatient violence.