Can the clinical items of the risk assessment instrument HKT-30 predict to what extent forensic patients will break agreements during the resocialisation phase of treatment?
summary
background Up till now, little research has been done into the factors that psychologists use during a patient’s Involuntary Commitment process in order to decide whether the patient should be transferred from the transitional phase of treatment to the pre-release resocialisation phase. In forensic treatment a premature decision can result in a problematical resocialisation phase and prolong the period of treatment.
aim To find out whether the K-items of the HKT-30, measured in the 12 months prior to the decision-making moment, can predict whether a patient, upon transfer to the resocialisation phase, will likely break agreements made in the transitional phase.
method With logistic regression and roc-analyses, the K-items of theHKT-30 for 94 patients, measured between 2003 and 2009, were used to predict the course and length of these patients’ treatment in the resocialisation phase.
results Some clinical items of the HKT-30 appear to provide a predictive value for the course of the pre-release resocialisation phase. Impulsiveness is one of the risk factors affecting the resocialisation phase.
conclusion Some K-items of the HKT-30 do appear to support the decisions to allow patients receiving forensic inpatient treatment to be transferred to the resocialisation phase.