MSc Forensic Psychology and Mental Health / Course details

The unit provides you with the knowledge as to the development of risk assessment approaches over time. Teaching will review the evidence base relating to the progression from first generation tools through to the latest fourth generation in risk assessment (e.g. VRS). The teaching develops understanding the role of the Forensic Psychologist in the assessment process and understanding the application of formulation and risk management. Structured Professional Judgement frameworks to assess, formulate and manage risk will be outlined (including HCR-20v3; RSVP; SAPROF). Consideration will be given to consultancy to professionals/organisations in relation to risk assessment practice. The unit contains numerous case examples to begin to build risk assessment and formulation skills in relation to risk behaviours in forensic settings such as stalking and intimate partner violence. Personal skills needed for effective clinical practice will be reviewed, with attention to best practice in interviewing and communication of risk judgements.

The unit aims to equip students with in-depth knowledge, understanding and basic skills in a range of evidence-based approaches to the assessment, formulation and management of risk to self and others. The unit aims to give students an understanding of risk assessments designed to assess a range of risk behaviours such as general violence, institutional violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, stalking and self-harm. The unit aims to build students’ understanding of how to contribute to innovation, change and service developments in clinical risk management. The unit further aims to build awareness of how to enhance best practice and maintenance of appropriate standards within forensic mental health care and forensic settings.

The teaching and learning methods involve a blend of both online learning and face to face lectures and workshops. Online components will require you to engage with online materials developed for the purpose, including video clips, interactive and guided activities activities. Directed study components comprise additional exercises and specified reading related to each session. The guided learning will require you to access interactive e-resources to further build knowledge of clinical risk assessment. Formative tasks are incorporated in this unit to build knowledge and critical awareness of clinical risk assessment; for example you will receive formative feedback on your completion of a risk formulation. Blackboard will be used to facilitate online discussion of material and to present resources such as resources for each session and access to online reading lists.

Student representation plays a vital and important part in helping the programme maintain and improve the quality of its provision. Student representatives liaise between staff and students on matters of concern to either side; provide two-way feedback on the course and on teaching quality, and promote active student involvement in course development.Student representatives are also invited to speak confidentially to the external examiner at the end of the academic year, and to participate in end-of-year course review meetings. Representatives are asked to feedback information from these meetings to the other students.In addition, at the end of each semester students are asked to complete an on-line evaluation questionnaire for each course unit they have taken. At the end of the course they complete a general evaluation for their overall programme of study. This anonymous feedback is circulated to unit leaders. This helps to ensure quality assurance. Formative assessment and feedback to students is a key feature of the on-line learning materials for this unit. Students will be required to engage in a wide range of interactive exercises to enhance their learning and test their developing knowledge and skills.

You will be expected to supplement your reading, and source your own relevant articles as demonstrated by your blackboard learning. Additional contemporary publications will be discussed during the module.

• Douglas, K.S., Hart, S.D., Webster, C.D., Belfrage, H. (2013). HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence version 3. Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.
• Doyle, M. and Dolan, M. (2006). Predicting community violence from patients discharged from mental health services. British Journal of Psychiatry. 189, 520-526.
• Doyle, M & Leonard, S. J (2016) The current state of violence risk assessment in England and Wales.  In Singh, J. A et al., International Perspectives on Violence Risk Assessment. Oxford University Press
• Elbogen, E. and Johnson, S. (2009). The Intricate Link Between Violence and Mental Disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry. 66: 2, 152-161.
• Hart, C., (2014) A pocket guide to risk assessment and management in mental health. Taylor and Francis.
• Hart, S.D., Michie, C. and Cooke, D.J. (2007) ‘Precision of actuarial risk assessment instruments: Evaluating the ‘margins of error’ of group versus individual predictions of violence’ British Journal of Psychiatry, 190 (suppl. 49): s60-s65.
• Lewis, G. and Doyle, M. (2010). Risk Formulation: What are we doing and why? International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 8: 286-292.
• Otto, R.K. and Douglas, K.S. (2010) Handbook of Violence Risk Assessment, New York: Routledge.
• Reed J. (1997) Risk assessment and clinical risk management: the lessons from recent inquiries. British Journal of Psychiatry. 170, (supp. 32), pp 4-7.
• Vincent, G. M., Paiva-Salisbury, M. L.,Cook, N. E., Guy, L. S., Perrault, R. T. (2012). Impact of risk/needs assessment on juvenile probation officers’ decision making: Importance of implementation. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 2012 Nov; 18(4):549-576.