The Violence Risk Scale Second Edition (VRS-2) as a predictor of institutional violence in a British forensic inpatient sample

This study examined the utility of The Violence Risk Scale 2nd Edition (VRS-2) [Wong, S., Gordon, A., 1999. Manual for the Violence Risk Scale. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada] as an institutional violence risk predictor. The VRS-2 and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV) were rated independently from pre-admission/admission case records in 147 patients in a medium security facility. Inpatient aggression post-admission was recorded by an independent researcher. Aggressive patients had significantly higher scores on both measures. The VRS-2 and the PCL: SV were only modest predictors of inpatient aggression. The VRS-2 putative “dynamic” items showed the highest predictive accuracy. The results tentatively support the use of the VRS-2 as a predictor of inpatient violence in mentally ill patients in medium security settings, with the dynamic component of this instrument showing most promise. Further studies validating this instrument are required before it is adopted into routine clinical practice.