title: Risk assessment tools in criminal justice and forensic psychiatry: The need for better data.
abstract: Violence risk assessment tools are increasingly used within criminal justice and forensic psychiatry, however there is little relevant, reliable and unbiased data regarding their predictive accuracy. We argue that such data are needed to (i) prevent excessive reliance on risk assessment scores, (ii) allow matching of different risk assessment tools to different contexts of application, (iii) protect against problematic forms of discrimination and stigmatisation, and (iv) ensure that contentious demographic variables are not prematurely removed from risk assessment tools.
authors.affiliation: Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Suite 8, Littlegate House, St Ebbes Street, Oxford OX1 1PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.affiliation: Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Suite 8, Littlegate House, St Ebbes Street, Oxford OX1 1PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pugh
authors.affiliation: Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Suite 8, Littlegate House, St Ebbes Street, Oxford OX1 1PT, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Suite 8, Littlegate House, St Ebbes Street, Oxford OX1 1PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Savulescu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom; Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom. Electronic address: seena.fazel@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fazel
mesh_terms: D003415:Crime / Q000145:classification* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003416:Criminal Law; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014754:Violence / Q000145:classification / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Crime prediction; Ethics and human rights; Forensic psychiatry; Racial profiling; Risk assessment; Violence