Understanding protective factors for violent reoffending in adults

Although there has been long-standing interest in identifying those factors that have the potential to increase the likelihood of violence, it is only relatively recently that attention has been given to those factors that act in the opposite way, or what are commonly referred to as protective factors. This paper considers the meaning of the term protective factor and how this and similarly termed constructs have been conceptualized and operationalized in violent offender assessment instruments. We discuss the relationship between risk and protective factors and identify a number of conceptual and definitional issues that arise. Finally, we consider the measurement of protective factors as they pertain to their inclusion in contemporary violent offender assessment instruments.