Assessing Risk of Violence Using Structured Professional Judgment Guidelines

Violence risk assessments are conducted routinely in psychiatric and correctional settings. One method with demonstrated reliability and validity for assessing risk of violence is the structured professional judgment (SPJ) model. In this article, we provide an overview of the SPJ model and a brief review of the empirical literature supporting its use. We present a clinical case example to demonstrate the use of the HCR-20, the most well-researched SPJ tool, with a psychiatric patient being considered for increased hospital privileges and discharge to the community. We conclude with recommendations for clinical practice using an SPJ tool when assessing risk of violence.