NCJ Number
142802
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1993) Pages: 277-288
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
While the accurate measurement of patient violence is central to many major policy debates in mental health and law, only limited attention has been paid to issues related to the measurement and categorization of patient violence.
Abstract
Outcome measures must be chosen after considering the need to find enough events of interest, the value of having rich data for analysis, and the match between research goals and the type of information gathered. The five commonly used sources of information about patient violence include police and court records, treatment records, unit incidents and seclusion reports, interviews with patients, and collateral interviews. While triangulating methods may alleviate many of the potential biases of these methods, use of multiple sources can also raise the issue of handling conflicting reports about specific incidents. Techniques used in the complex task of categorizing violent events include coding acts, coding the act in a situational context, coding the processes accompanying a violent incident, and coding opportunities for violence. 41 references