Evaluation of Risk for Violence using the HCR-20 Version 3
Presented by: Stephen D. Hart, PhD, Laura Guy, PhD, and Kevin Douglas, PhD, LLB
20 Hours / 20 CEs
On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training
This on-demand professional training program on the Evaluation of Risk for Violence using the HCR-20 Version 3 is presented by Stephen D. Hart, Ph.D., Kevin S. Douglas, Ph.D., LLB, and Laura Guy, Ph.D., in partnership with Protect International Risk and Safety Services.
The HCR-20 (Version 2; Webster, Douglas, Eaves, & Hart, 1997) is the most commonly used violence risk assessment measure across 44 different countries. It helps professionals in correctional, mental health, and forensic settings make decisions about who poses a higher versus lower risk for violence, either within institutions or in the community, and to devise and monitor violence risk management plans. The HCR-20 (Version 2) has been evaluated in more than 100 studies and implemented or evaluated in at least 32 countries. Version 3 of the HCR-20 (Douglas, Hart, Webster, & Belfrage, 2013) was released in 2013.
Version 3 maintains the basic features of Version 2 but has additional features that help decision-makers determine which risk factors are most relevant at the individual level, how to produce a meaningful case formulation, how to develop helpful risk management plans, and how to make decisions about the level of violence risk. Some items have been changed as well.
- The participant is taken through the foundation for structured professional judgment, how to rate the presence and relevance of each of the HCR-20 Version 3 items, how to formulate risk scenarios, how to consider case management issues for the evaluee, and how to conceptualize and provide summary judgments regarding the evaluee’s overall risk.
- This program typically takes about 20 hours to complete and includes a review of the training videos, reading the HCR-20 Version 3 Manual, working through the case illustration, and scoring a clinical case using the HCR-20 Version 3.
This program focuses on the revised HCR-20 (now called HCR:V3) and describes why and how the HCR-20 was revised; how Version 3 differs from its predecessors; initial research validation of Version 3; what its risk factors are and how to rate them; and how to complete case formulation and risk management planning using Version 3. Participants also have the opportunity to complete the HCR:V3 on a practice case. Professionals who do not have a solid foundation in threat assessment and risk management may wish to register for the Foundations of Violence Risk Assessment and Management program before registering for this program, but this is not a requirement.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- 1 Describe important historical movements in the violence risk field that led to the development of the HCR-20 Version 3
- 2 Describe the strengths of actuarial and unstructured clinical prediction
- 3 Describe the weaknesses of actuarial and unstructured clinical prediction
- 4 Describe how Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) differs from the actuarial clinical prediction
- 5 Describe how Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) differs from the unstructured clinical prediction
- 6 Describe the importance of risk management in the SPJ approach
- 7 Describe how the HCR-20 Version 3 differs from the HCR-20 Version 2
- 8 Describe how the HCR-20 Version 3 improves upon from the HCR-20 Version 2
- 9 Describe how to formulate risk scenarios
- 10 Describe case management issues for the evaluee
- 11 Describe how to conceptualize and provide summary judgments regarding the evaluee’s overall risk
- 12 Apply the HCR-20 Version 3 to actual case analysis
- 13 Describe and score the HCR-20 Version 3 items
Presented By
Stephen D. Hart, PhD Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University
Dr. Stephen D. Hart obtained BA, MA, and PhD degrees in psychology at the University of British Columbia. He has been on faculty in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University since 1990, and has held the rank of Professor since 2001. He also served as a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway between 2000 and 2021. His expertise is in the field of clinical-forensic psychology, with a special focus on the assessment of violence risk and psychopathic personality disorder. He has co-authored more than 250 books, chapters, and articles. He has served as editor of two scientific journals; a member of the editorial board of eight journals; and ad hoc reviewer for more than 40 journals. He has served as an executive committee member of several professional organizations, including President of the American Psychology-Law Society and the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services. He has received various distinctions for his professional work, including the Career Achievement Award from the Society of Clinical Psychology, the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Research Excellence in Psychology and Law from the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. He maintains an active practice in violence risk assessment. He has consulted with government agencies from more than 25 countries; led more than 500 training workshops around the world; and given expert evidence before courts, tribunals, inquests, review boards, and parliamentary committees in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Presented By
Laura S. Guy, PhD Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University
Laura S. Guy obtained her BA in psychology at McGill University in Quebec, MA in clinical (forensic) psychology at Sam Houston State University in Texas, and PhD in clinical (forensic) psychology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). She has Board Certification in Forensic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and is registered to practice psychology in Canada and the United States. As part of a team at Protect International, she conducts workplace violence risk assessments and is a psychologist with the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission of British Columbia. She was on faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at UMMS from 2009 to 2015 and currently is Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University. She is active in research, having received research grants from federal agencies in the United States and Canada and is the (co)author of over 150 articles, chapters, reports, manuals, and presentations. She is active in professional organizations, serving as Senior Editor of Journal of Threat Assessment and Management; ad hoc reviewer for more than 17 journals, as well as several granting agencies; and a board or executive committee member of several professional organizations, including Business Secretary of the Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. She has consulted with and provided training workshops for mental health, law enforcement, probation, corrections, and legal professionals in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region.
Presented By
Kevin S. Douglas, PhD, LLB Professor of Forensic Psychology, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Kevin S. Douglas received his law degree (LL.B.) in 2000 from the University of British Columbia, and his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in clinical (forensic) psychology from Simon Fraser University. He spent three years on faculty at the University of South Florida in Tampa, and has been on faculty at Simon Fraser University since 2004. He currently is Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University. He is also a Guest Professor of Applied Criminology at Mid-Sweden University, and a Senior Research Advisor at the University of Oslo.
Training Outline
Key topics covered in this training include:
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Structured Professional Judgment
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Development of Version 3
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Administration
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Rating Historical Items
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Rating Clinical Items
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The HCR-V3 Worksheet
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Case Example
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Implementation Issues
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Report Writing
We are proud to partner with
Protect International Risk and Safety Services
We are proud to partner with Protect International Risk and Safety Services for this training. Protect International's threat assessment professionals are internationally recognized experts that have developed some of the world's most widely used and best-validated threat assessment tools. Protect International provides services and products related to violence risk assessment and management, also known as threat assessment and management. Protect International services and products include threat assessment training and support, case assessment and management, legal consultation, policy review and development, and program evaluation and research; along with threat assessment manuals, worksheets, licenses, and software applications for those tools.
CE Sponsorship Information
Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here.
American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).
Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.