Criminology Research Council grant ; (18/00-01)
This report examined the current legal and ethical background to risk assessment for the purpose of preventing future serious injury to others.
It outlined the development of the concepts of risk assessment and risk management and the different ways in which risk can be measured. It now appears that there is some degree of consensus that well-trained mental health professionals should be able to predict a patient's short-term potential for violence.
The report also set out the forensic context for risk assessment and outlines some of the areas of law where mental health professionals may be required to write reports or give evidence concerning risk of harm to others. In the criminal law field, this includes writing reports in relation to the risk of an accused reoffending for the purposes of bail applications, sentencing and preventive detention, the disposition of offenders with mental disorders and parole. The report then turned to legal and ethical arguments relating to breaching confidentiality when a health professional believes a patient is at risk of harming others. While there were strong ethical justifications for preserving confidentiality, it appears that the majority of health professionals and ethicists view confidentiality as being relative rather than absolute.