Variables Associated with Violence in a Forensic Population

Cautious optimism has returned among practitioners and researchers involved in the prediction of violent behavior as a consequence of what has been termed “second-generation thinking” on the prediction of violence. New emphases have been suggested on actuarial techniques, alternate research methodologies, and comparisons between various clinical populations. In the present study, four clinical variable domains were sampled in a forensic population (psychiatric diagnosis, electroencephalographic measures, psychological test data, and social history data) in order to examine the absolute and relative strengths of their relationship with acts of severe violence. A characterological type of dysphoria was found to have the strongest association with violence, followed by the absence of temporal lobe damage, and a passive style of response to threat.