Background: The aim of this study was to assess the potential for future violent behaviour comparing patients recruited from forensic and general psychiatric wards in Germany.
Patients and methods: Fifty patients were recruited from a forensic hospital and 29 from a general psychiatric hospital. In the weeks preceding discharge, structured assessments of the future risk of violent behaviour were completed using the HCR-20.
Results: There was little difference in the risk presented by the two groups. Forensic patients presented an elevated risk of violence because of historical factors, while the risk among patients from general psychiatry was due to clinical symptoms.
Conclusion: Some criminal offences could be prevented if more time and effort were spent in general psychiatric practice in identifying patients at high risk for violence and in reducing symptoms of psychoses before discharge.