Considerations in Diagnosis and Management of Violent Behavior

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Abstract
Accountability of psychotherapists and other health-care professionals has now been extended to the prediction and control of violent behavior. Professional and public liability requires mental health practitioners to develop more reliable methods by which violent behavior may be diagnosed, managed with effective strategies, and ultimately prevented. The present paper lists a number of verifiable elements, e.g., (a) diagnosis, (b) availability of weapons, (c) use of drugs or alcohol, (d) history of violent behavior, (e) social withdrawal, isolation and absence of support systems, (f) level of psychosocial stress, and (g) environmental crises, which may be utilized to predict violent behavior with improved consistency. While by no means exhaustive, these suggested factors applied together with clinicians' “intuition” or “clinical judgment” might help improve the consistency with which violent behavior is diagnosed and then managed. Strategies for dealing with deleterious effects were also suggested.

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