PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alexander Westphal
AU  - Clare Allely
TI  - The Need for a Structured Approach to Violence Risk Assessment in Autism
AID  - 10.29158/JAAPL.003896-19
DP  - 2019 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 437--439
VI  - 47
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/47/4/437.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/47/4/437.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2019 Dec 01; 47
AB  - The relationship between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and violence is poorly understood. Several violence risk factors are either modified by or are unique to ASD; clinicians conducting violence risk assessment of people with ASD must consider these factors. An ASD-specific risk assessment tool is clearly needed. In the absence of this, clinicians often use risk assessment tools designed for other populations, highlighting the importance of establishing their predictive validity in people with ASD. Girardi and colleagues have taken a very important step in this process in their paper, “Assessing the Risk of Inpatient Violence in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” by examining whether the Historical Clinical Risk Management-20, Version 3, can predict violence in male patients with ASD in a forensic setting. Further research is needed to design a risk assessment tool specific to ASD and its unique features.