ABSTRACT
Perhaps no area of psychological assessment is more controversial than the prediction of violent behavior. Members of the bar, the legislature, and the public alike seemingly expect psychologists and other mental health practitioners2 to “read the minds” of the dangerous among us in order to protect the public. This chapter describes the apprehension produced by such views and then briefly reviews the history of violence prediction by mental health professionals as it applies to forensic settings. The chapter then blends findings from scientific undertakings with those of public policy institutes, in hopes of providing readers with a scope of information that is often missing from independent reviews of the respective sources.
