Violence, Aggression and Dangerous Behaviour

Last update: 12 December 2012,
by Maureen Bell

This page is divided into two sections, the first deals with the problem of violence or aggression in a health environment, and the second deals with domestic violence, and issues of violence in the wider community.

Lists of books and journal articles relating to violence and to anger management can be found on my bibliographies and reading lists page. There are also lists of material on the use of seclusion and restraint, and on absconding

For practice guidelines related to dealing with violence and aggression click here.

Library members have online access to the following journals which may be of interest for this subject. You'll find them in the e-Journals A-Z list at the top right of this page.

Aggression and Violent Behavior
Aggressive Behavior
Family Violence Prevention and Health Practice
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma
Journal of Family Violence
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Trauma, Violence & Abuse

Anger Kills (Health Report -April 7,1997)
Norman Swan's interview with Dr Redford Williams, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.

Anger Management for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Clients: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Manual
By Patrick M Reilly, and Michael S Shopshire. Rockville MD., Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health services Administration, 2002. This publication is designed to help counsellors teach anger management techniques in a group setting through a 12-week cognitive behavioural intervention (participants use the accompanying workbook). The manual describes the anger cycle, conflict resolution, assertiveness skills, and anger control plans.

Controlling Anger -- Before It Controls You
Advice on anger management from the American Psychological Association's Office of Public Affairs.

Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence
Mark H. Moore, Carol V. Petrie, Anthony A. Braga, and Brenda L. McLaughlin, Editors. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2003.

Dealing with the Risk Of Violence
By Michael G Conner, a clinical psychologist who specialises in crisis intervention and emergency room psychiatry. Revised: January 29, 2009.

Determinants of violence in the psychiatric emergency service
An article by Adam Oster, Stan Bernbaum, and Scott Patten.
Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2001, 164(1): 32-33

Developing a Psychometric Model of Risk Assessment: The Case of RAMAS
By S. M. Hammond, and M. M. O'Rourke. London RAMAS, 1997.

Learning From Each Other: Success Stories and Ideas for Reducing Restraint/Seclusion in Behavioral Health
American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, and the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, with support from the American Hospital Association Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services, 2003.

The MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment: Executive Summary
There is also a link which allows you to access the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Data.The MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study had two core goals: to do the best “science” on violence risk assessment possible, and to produce an actuarial violence risk assessment “tool” that clinicians could use. The Study evolved in six stages over the decade it took to plan, execute, and analyze the research.

Mental Health Reference Group: Risk Management
Chairman Ian Pullen. The Mental Health Reference Group (MHRG) was set up in 1996 to assist the (then) Scottish Office working party developing the first draft of the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland.

Mental Illness and Violence: Proof or Stereotype?
Prepared by Julio Arboleda-Flórez, Heather L. Holley, and Annette Crisanti, at the Calgary World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, for the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, 1996.

Multi-Agency Risk Management: Safeguarding Public Safety and Individual Care
By Margaret O'Rourke, Sean Hammond & Madeline Bucknall. London, RAMAS, 2001. RAMAS (Risk Assessment, Management and Audit Systems) was developed in an effort to incorporate "lessons learned" from public inquiries with "what works" principles in public safety, risk management, and clinical care.

National Audit of Violence
The Royal College of Psychiatrists' Research and Training Unit established the National Audit of Violence in 1999. Subsequent reports are available at this site.

National Task Force on Violence Against Social Care Staff
This site contains material to assist employers, social care workers and service users of the Department of Health (UK.) in dealing with and reducing violence or abuse to staff. Amongst its resources is the National Task Force on Violence Against Social Care Staff Report and National Action Plan

Notes on the Clinical Assessment of Dangerousness in Offender Populations
An article by David A. Cohen, 1996. First published in Psychiatry On-Line 1997.

Predictors of violence, antisocial behaviour and relational aggression in Australian adolescents : a longitudinal study [CRC funded reports]
By Sheryl A Hemphill, John W Toumbourou, and Richard F Catalano. A report for the Criminology Research Council, 15 February 2005.

The Prevalence of Victimization and Violent Behaviour in the Seriously Mentally Ill [CRC funded reports]
By Alexander McFarlane, Clara Bookless, and Geoff Schrader. A report for the Criminology Research Council, 2004.

Risk Assessment by Mental Health Professionals and the Prevention of Future Violent Behaviour [CRC funded reports]
A report prepared by Bernadette McSherry for the Criminology Research Council, 2002.

Risk Management: Towards Safe Sound and Supportive Service
By Margaret O'Rourke and Sean Hammond. Surrey Hampshire Borders NHS Trust Funded by South Thames Research and Development Fund March 2000.

The Risk of Violent And Homicidal Behavior In Children
By Michael G. Conner, a clinical psychologist. Revised July 10, 2012.

Safety guidance for social care staff
Skills for Care has been working with the Department of Health (DH), the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and Local Government Employers (LGE to update the work of the DH's National Task Force on Violence against Social Care staff, originally published in 2001.

Schizophrenia and Violence: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
PLoS Med. 2009 August; 6(8)
Published online 2009 August 11

United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children
United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children which was presented to the Third Committee of the General Assembly in New York on 11 October 2006.

The utility of the Historical Clinical Risk -20 Scale as a predictor of outcomes in decisions to transfer patients from high to lower levels of security-A UK perspective
BMC Psychiatry. 2010; 10: 76.
Published online 2010 September 29

Violence Against Mental Health Professionals: When the Treater Becomes the Victim
Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. 2011 March; 8(3): 34–39.

Violence (APA)
A collection of resources from the American Psychological Association.

Violence: Occupational Hazards in Hospitals
Produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Health and Human Services, in the United States, April 2002. DHHS (NIOSH)Publication No.2002 –101

Violence Risk Prediction
Dolan M, and Doyle M. Violence risk prediction: Clinical and actuarial measures and the role of the Psychopathy Checklist.
British Journal of Psychiatry 2000, 177: 303-311

World Report on Violence and Health
This report was produced by the World Health Organization in 2002. It includes chapters on youth violence, child abuse, violence by intimate partners, and abuse of the elderly

Domestic Violence

Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse
The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse is a national resource on issues of domestic violence and family violence. It provides a central point for the collection and dissemination of Australian domestic and family violence policy, practice and research.

Confronting Chronic Neglect: The Education and Training of Health Professionals on Family Violence
Felicia Cohn, Marla E. Salmon, and John D. Stobo, Editors, Committee on the Training Needs of Health Professionals to Respond to Family Violence, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Institute of Medicine. Washington D.C., National Academy Press, 2002.

Domestic Violence : A Resource Manual for Health Care Professionals
By Melanie Henwood. London, Department of Health, March 2000.

Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria

Responding to Family and Domestic Violence: A Guide for Health Care Professionals in Western Australia
2nd edition, 2001. Prepared by the Eastern Perth Public and Community Health Unit of the Royal Perth Hospital.

Tackling the health and mental health effects of domestic and sexual violence and abuse
Department of Health (UK.) 15 March 2006. This document sets out a programme of work to equip services and professionals to identify and respond to the health and mental health needs of individuals affected by domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, rape, oblique sexual assault and sexual exploitation including children, adolescents, and adults, both victims and abusers, male and female.

Understanding Violence Against Women (1996)
Understanding violence against women / Panel on Research on Violence Against Women, Committee on Law and Justice, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council. Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, 1996. There is a copy of this in the Law library.

Violence in Families: Assessing Prevention and Treatment Programs (1998)
Violence in Families: Assessing Prevention and Treatment Programs Rosemary Chalk and Patricia A. King , Editors. Committee on the Assessment of Family Violence Interventions Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education National Research Council, and Institute of Medicine. Wasington, D.C., National Academy Press, 1998.