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The Reliability of Dangerousness Assessments. A Decision Making Exercise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Cléopâtre Montandon  and
Timothy Harding
Cléopâtre Montandon
Affiliation:
Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, 8, Passage de la Radio, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
Timothy Harding
Affiliation:
Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, 8, Passage de la Radio, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
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Summary

One hundred and ninety three raters drawn from six countries and representing different professional groups considered 16 case histories. Raters were asked to indicate what degree of ‘dangerousness' they attributed to each individual and what they considered to be the optimal management.

The level of agreement between raters concerning the assessment of dangerousness was generally low, the level of 60 per cent being reached for only 4 cases out of 16. Psychiatrists did not reach a higher level of agreement on the ratings of dangerousness than non-psychiatrists. Psychiatrists had a tendency to rate individuals as more dangerous than did non-psychiatrists.

The results of this exercise do not support the use of ‘dangerousness' as a scientifically or operationally valid concept.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 2 , February 1984 , pp. 149 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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