The reliability and validity of the violence risk scale - experimental version 1
type: CreativeWork
description: Increasing concern for the safety of society has resulted in a heightened demand for instruments that can accurately predict the risk of violence. As a result, efforts to improve risk prediction techniques have intensified. However, the accurate prediction of violence has proved to be a difficult task, often plagued by inaccuracies and a general lack of validity (Douglas, MacFarlane, & Webster, 1996). The present study represents the first phase in a large scale evaluation of a newly developed risk assessment instrument, the Violence Risk Scale-Experimental Version 1 (VRS-E1, Wong & Gordon, 1996). The VRS-E1 was specifically designed to assess the risk of violence in offender populations. Using a sample of provincial and federal offenders (n=60), subjects were assessed with the VRS-E1 by two independent raters based on a file review and semi-structured interview. The interrater reliability of the VRS-E1 was determined based on the degree of concordance between the scores of two raters for each item and for the total scores using the Kappa (k) Coefficient of Agreement Statistic and Pearson's (r) Product Moment Coefficient. To assess the extent to which the VRS-E1 items are measuring the same or a similar construct, an analysis of the internal consistencies of the scale items was conducted using the Cronbach's alpha. Item analyses were also used to evaluate the independent contribution of each VRS-E1 item to the scale total score. The convergent validity of the VRS-E1 was evaluated by investigating the relationship of the VRS-E1 scores with the scores obtained on validated measures of criminal violence (i.e., the Criminal Career Profile analysis and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised), criminal risk/need (i.e., General Statistical Information on Recidivism scale and Level of Service Inventory-Revised), and aggression/hostility (i.e., the Aggression Questionnaire and Interpersonal Behaviour Survey). Discriminant validity of the VRS-E1 was assessed by correlating the VRS…
abstract: Increasing concern for the safety of society has resulted in a heightened demand for instruments that can accurately predict the risk of violence. As a result, efforts to improve risk prediction techniques have intensified. However, the accurate prediction of violence has proved to be a difficult task, often plagued by inaccuracies and a general lack of validity (Douglas, MacFarlane, & Webster, 1996). The present study represents the first phase in a large scale evaluation of a newly developed risk assessment instrument, the Violence Risk Scale-Experimental Version 1 (VRS-E1, Wong & Gordon, 1996). The VRS-E1 was specifically designed to assess the risk of violence in offender populations. Using a sample of provincial and federal offenders (n=60), subjects were assessed with the VRS-E1 by two independent raters based on a file review and semi-structured interview. The interrater reliability of the VRS-E1 was determined based on the degree of concordance between the scores of two raters for each item and for the total scores using the Kappa (k) Coefficient of Agreement Statistic and Pearson's (r) Product Moment Coefficient. To assess the extent to which the VRS-E1 items are measuring the same or a similar construct, an analysis of the internal consistencies of the scale items was conducted using the Cronbach's alpha. Item analyses were also used to evaluate the independent contribution of each VRS-E1 item to the scale total score. The convergent validity of the VRS-E1 was evaluated by investigating the relationship of the VRS-E1 scores with the scores obtained on validated measures of criminal violence (i.e., the Criminal Career Profile analysis and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised), criminal risk/need (i.e., General Statistical Information on Recidivism scale and Level of Service Inventory-Revised), and aggression/hostility (i.e., the Aggression Questionnaire and Interpersonal Behaviour Survey). Discriminant validity of the VRS-E1 was assessed by correlating the VRS…
author: Gordon, Audrey
language: en_US
date published: 1998-10
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:27:11Z
provider: University of Saskatchewan
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Saskatchewan

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-05202009-075549