Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 4;7(3):402-411.
doi: 10.1080/20961790.2022.2046370. eCollection 2022.

Is it possible to use the HCR-20 V2 to assess the risk of violent recidivism of French offenders?

Ingrid Bertsch  1   2   3 , Robert Courtois  1   2 , Elodie Gallard  4 , Christian Réveillère  1 , Thierry H Pham  3   5
Affiliations

Is it possible to use the HCR-20 V2 to assess the risk of violent recidivism of French offenders?

Ingrid Bertsch et al. Forensic Sci Res. .

Abstract

The Historical-Clinical-Risk Management Scale 20 (HCR-20) is a structured tool to assess the risk of violence and assist in its management. French professionals are reluctant to use it because only a few studies have shown its psychometric qualities with French samples. The objective of this study is to test the psychometric qualities of the HCR-20 with samples of violent detainees in France. The HCR-20 and Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) were administered to 128 violent offenders with an average age of (44.16±12.30) years. We evaluated the reliability, internal consistency and validity of the HCR-20 and conducted an exploratory factor analysis. The results show that the HCR-20 has good psychometric qualities with a sample of French prisoners. Only the Risk domain presents weak results due to the data collection locations and the participants' age. Correlations were observed between certain factors. The exploratory factor analysis shows four factors explaining 44% of the variance. The continuation of this work will enable French professionals to use sound tools to assess the risk of recidivism.

Keywords: HCR-20; assessment; recidivism risk; violence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

This study was approved by Espace de Reflexion Ethique en région Centre for ethics in health care (notice no. 2017 077). Informed written consent was obtained from all individual participants individual in the study.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Cattell’s Elbow of the Exploratory Factor Analysis of the HCR-20. HCR-20: Historical-Clinical-Risk Management Scale-20.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Otto RK, Douglas KS.. Handbook of violence risk assessment. New York (UK): Routledge; 2010.
    1. Heilbrun K, Yasuhara K, Shah S.. Violence risk assessment tools: overview and critical analysis. In: Otto RK, Douglas KS, editors. Handbook of violence risk assessment. New York (NY): Routledge; 2010. p. 1–17.
    1. Hannah-Moffat K, Shaw M.. Situation risquée: le risque et les services correctionnels au Canada. Crimino. 2002;34:47–72. French.
    1. Hanson RK, Morton-Bourgon KE.. The accuracy of recidivism risk assessments for sexual offenders: a meta-analysis of 118 prediction studies. Psychol Assess. 2009;21:1–21. - PubMed
    1. Douglas KS, Skeem JL.. Violence risk assessment: getting specific about being dynamic. Psychol, Public Policy, Law. 2005;11:347–383.