Threatening and Non-Threatening Verbal Aggression as Predictors of Physical Aggression in Violent Psychiatric Patients

• NCJ Number: 196038
• Journal: Journal of Threat Assessment Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 63-74
• Author(s): Marc Hillbrand
• Editor(s): Joseph T. McCann
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study reviewed all incidents of verbal and physical aggression during a 3-year period in a maximum-security forensic hospital to examine the link between the severity of a threat and future violence.

Abstract

To contribute to the few studies that have examined the link between threats by psychiatric patients and assaults and future violence, incidents of aggressive behavior for 103 male psychiatric patients hospitalized in a maximum-security forensic hospital were continuously recorded during a 3-year period through a hospital-wide aggressive behavior monitoring system using the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS). From the total patient population hospitalized during the 3-year period (n=307), a high violence and a low violence group were selected. Results indicated that during the 3-year period the high violence group engaged in 811 incidents of verbal aggression, 149 incidents of physical aggression against objects, 237 incidents of physical aggression against self, and 300 incidents of physical aggression against others. The low violence group engaged in 166 incidents of verbal aggression, 11 incidents of physical aggression against objects, zero incidents of physical aggression against self, and 56 incidents of physical aggression against others. The study made two main contributions to the area of clinical inquiry. First, the strong correlation between frequency of verbal aggression and frequency of physical aggression against others confirms findings of earlier studies that threats and other verbally hostile behaviors by patients are significant correlates of assaultive behavior. Second, as hostility in verbal behavior increases, the severity of assaultive behavior also increases. Most notable in this study was the strength of the association between verbal and physical aggression in the sample. A major study limitation is that it was not a predictive study. Future research needs to explore the nature of the specific interactions among potential attacker, past stressful events, current situation, and target. References