The British Journal of Psychiatry 144: 149-155 (1984)
© 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
The reliability of dangerousness assessments. A decision making exercise
C Montandon and T Harding
One hundred and ninety three raters drawn from six countries and
representing different professional groups considered 16 case histories.
Raters were asked to indicate what degree of 'dangerousness' they
attributed to each individual and what they considered to be the optimal
management. The level of agreement between raters concerning the assessment
of dangerousness was generally low, the level of 60 per cent being reached
for only 4 cases out of 16. Psychiatrists did not reach a higher level of
agreement on the ratings of dangerousness than non-psychiatrists.
Psychiatrists had a tendency to rate individuals as more dangerous than did
non-psychiatrists. The results of this exercise do not support the use of
'dangerousness' as a scientifically or operationally valid concept.
