Hindsight Bias in Clinical Violence Risk Assessment: Moderating Factors and Debiasing Techniques

Type Thesis

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Summary

In cases involving clinical assessment of risk for violence, mental health professionals can face severe consequences, such as malpractice lawsuits and disciplinary measure by licensing boards, when a patient deemed low-risk commits an act of violence. Prior research indicates that clinicians as well as laypersons are susceptible to the hindsight bias when reviewing these cases. The hindsight bias, a tendency to overestimate the foreseeability of information that supports a known outcome, can impede those reviewing negligence cases from accurately adopting the perspective of the evaluating clinician. The bias has the potential to place clinicians at a disadvantage, as they may face punitive consequences even when they have conducted a conscientious evaluation that adheres to standards of practice.