HCR-20
Definition
Historical, Clinical, Risk Management-20: a structured professional judgement tool for violence risk assessment covering 20 items across historical background, current clinical status, and future risk-management circumstances. Widely used in forensic psychiatric settings globally.
- Full name
- Historical, Clinical, Risk Management-20
- Item count
- 20
- Domains
- Historical, Clinical, Risk Management
- Assessment type
- Structured professional judgement (SPJ)
- Setting
- Forensic psychiatric violence risk assessment
Common questions
How does structured professional judgement differ from an actuarial risk tool?+
An actuarial tool sums item scores into a fixed probability, while SPJ instruments like HCR-20 use the items to structure a clinician's judgement, ending in a categorical low, moderate or high rating rather than a numeric score.
Can HCR-20 predict a specific date or likelihood of violence?+
No, it is designed to identify risk factors and inform management planning, not to generate an actuarial probability, and its output is a structured judgement of risk level rather than a percentage or timeframe.
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