Essential Writings in Violence Risk Assessment

With Essential Writings in Violence Risk Assessment and Management, mental health and legal practitioners have quick access to the most important peer-reviewed writings in the field. The 31 journal articles and book chapters in this collection provide a complete foundational curriculum on the subject. Topics include: - the historical shift from "dangerousness" to violence risk assessment - the emergence of actuarial violence prediction - clinical prediction and assessment - the actuarial versus clinical controversy - decision making - treatments, security and program planning. Covering a field that crosses civil, forensic and correctional boundaries, this book is a valuable resource for clinicians, lawyers, judges, law enforcement officials, health and correctional administrators, journalists and anyone working in the forensic system. It is also of interest to anyone intrigued by how the forensic system assesses and manages people deemed to be violent, and how decision makers manage the often precarious balance between protecting the public and according the accused the greatest degree of freedom possible. The book's six main sections are preceded by introductions, written by the editors, that succinctly encapsulate the main arguments discussed by its contributors. Taken together, these introductions provide a concise summary of a complex topic.

Dr. Hy Bloom is a forensic pyschiatrist and lawyer who assesses individuals who have mental illnesses and outstanding criminal charges. He is an associate of the Central Branch of the PSILEX Group, which provides consultation in behavioural sciences and the law. He is also a part-time staff member of the Law and Mental Health Program at the Clarke Branch of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto; and an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. Dr. Bloom is both an alternate chairperson and psychiatry member of the Ontario Review Board. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1980. He has published on a number of topics in psychiatry and the law.