Violence risk assessment in Forensic Psychiatry

Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a new technique capable of stThe correlation between psychiatric disorder and violent behaviour has been investigated in an increasingly judicious manner and new tools of violence risk assessment have been developed in the last decades. The present study presents an updated overview of the resources used in such type of evaluation, both clinical and systematic ones, focusing on the development of new standardized tools. The main objective is not based on the presentation of mathematical data nor the cut-off scores from the developed checklists, but on the risk factors, beyond mental disorder, raised in such tools. This will allow an improved understanding of the complexity of such evaluation and the degree of participation of the existence of mental disease. The conclusion will emphasize the importance of a balanced evaluation between clinical examination and the factors mentioned by the standardized instruments. Equally important is the need for a balanced view, neither over-estimating nor overlooking the relationship between psychiatric disorder and violent behavior.