Overview

The Forensic College of the APS is pleased to invite members to an upcoming event involving examining the realities and limitations of risk assessment using CPORT as a case example. Risk assessment is a core activity in Forensic Psychology. Both of the predominant approaches to risk assessment, actuarial assessment and structured professional judgment, are practised by most forensic psychologists. This workshop addresses psychometric issues in risk assessment and is most relevant to the actuarial approach. In this workshop, familiar risk assessment concepts are revisited before introducing ideas from the Bayesian tradition, which have potential to improve the precision and usefulness of risk assessment tools.

This workshop covers the following concepts and their influence on risk assessment: types of probability, test characteristics including area under the curve, positive predictive value, likelihood ratios, Bayes theorem and base rates, and credible intervals. The Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT) Version 2 is used throughout the workshop to demonstrate the concepts covered in the workshop.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

• Describe the key psychometric concepts relevant to risk assessment, including types of probability, area under the curve, positive predictive value, and likelihood ratios
• Explain the principles of Bayesian reasoning and how they apply to forensic risk assessment

Application and Skills

• Interpret test characteristics such as likelihood ratios and positive predictive value when using actuarial tools
• Apply Bayesian concepts to improve the precision of risk assessment conclusions

Critical Evaluation

• Assess how Bayesian methods can enhance the usefulness of existing risk assessment instruments
• Identify potential sources of error or imprecision in risk assessment practice and apply strategies to address them

Professional Practice

• Translate psychometric concepts into defensible risk communication in reports and court testimony
• Apply risk assessment reasoning within ethical and professional standards for forensic psychology practice

The workshop primarily targets the Psychology Board of Australia's Professional Competencies for psychologists as below:

• Competency 1 (scientific knowledge and evidence-based practice), with secondary relevance to
• Competency 2 (ethical and professional practice),
• Competency 4 (psychological assessment), and
• Competency 6 (effective communication).

Presenter(s)

About the presenter(s)

Notes

Registration includes light refreshements (tea and coffee) and afternoon tea.

Target Audience

This activity is aimed at Psychologists conducting risk assessments.

Please note:

• This is a Member Groups event. All communication will be sent to the registrants’ registered email address. This includes event reminders with details (such as the venue details) and any pre-event or post-event resources, if provided by the facilitators.
• A post-event email will be sent within two weeks of the event’s completion to each registrant’s registered email address. This email will include the CPD certificate, and any additional resources shared during the session.

Duration of Access

This event will not be recorded.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.