ABSTRACT
The goal of risk assessment is to evaluate the likelihood of future harmful behaviour for an individual in a specified context. Often this concerns specific types of criminal behaviour, such as violence or sexual violence. Many researchers agree that by failing to recognise strengths in addition to risks in the assessment process, important information concerning the positive side of the violence risk equation is wrongfully ignored and that protective factors are essential for an accurate risk appraisal. The risk-reducing effect implies protective factors may have a diminishing effect on risk factors. Developed in forensic psychiatric practice in the Netherlands in 2007, the Structured assessment of protective factors was intended as a strengths-based structured professional judgment assessment tool to complement existing risk-focused assessment tools, such as the Historical Clinical Risk Management-20. The implementation of the SAPROF in risk assessment practice across a wide range of different services leads to the question of applicability for different subgroups of psychiatric patients and offenders.
