A VERA-2R assessment should be integrated into a risk report.
Use of Risk Reports
If an individual is arrested or convicted, a risk report can help in risk management strategies, in rehabilitation goals as well as assisting in placement or pre-trial decisions. Psychiatrists and psychologists are often asked to provide such evaluations for detainees or at a hearing.
Risk Report Format
There are six steps that are important for the preparation of a violent extremism risk report. These steps are described below. It is appropriate for professionals to use a risk report format. That helps in organizing and makes the risk report more useful for others.
Follow-up Risk Report
Repeated risk assessments are necessary to investigate changes in risks and protective factors. If new relevant information becomes available, a new risk assessment should be carried out.
Describe what information is used and what is missing.
Describe the Quality of the Available and Used Information: Content and reliability.
Mention the Actual Judicial Status: Convicted or suspected with brief explanation. If person denies or admits facts. Detention status: Preventive detention, conviction, probation or parole conditions.
Administrate your Findings: When coding indicators, document both evidence for and evidence against risk indicators. Keep this fully scored list with substantiation as proof.
Recommendations about Missing Information: Make recommendations whether and how missing information could be retrieved.
Describe the relevant domains and relevant risk and protective indicators of the VERA-2R.
Relevant Risk Indicator: Indicator had an essential role in violent extremist behaviour in the past, is likely to influence violent extremist behaviour in the future, probably affects individual’s ability to apply non-violent extremist skills or to engage in non-violent extremist interpersonal relationships and the indicator is necessary to reduce or control the risk.
Decisive Risk Indicator: Some risk indicators can be decisive for the Standardised Professional Judgment methodology
Seek Consensus on Coding: Do this with another professional trained in the VERA-2R.
Formulate a violent extremism risk narrative of the person.
Indicate individual and contextual causes of behaviour, risk reduction, chronology, and testability.
Consider predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating and protective indicators. Integrate and weigh eventual psychopathology.
Pay attention to the history and duration of violent extremism or terrorism behaviour
Think of hierarchy and clustering of risk indicators and of ‘domino indicators’, that is, risk indicators that can lead to exacerbation of other risk indicators.
Develop risk scenarios for the individual based on relevant risk indicators and standardised questions.
Development of different risk scenarios for the individual: This is relevant because legal, judicial and life situations can differ in the future of the person involved. These risk scenario’s will have consequences for risk management strategies. Try to reach consensus with another VERA-2R-trained expert. Mind the bias of the therapist.
Same case scenario: What and how will a person commit a violent act similar to the current or most recent violent extremist or terrorist act?
Better case or optimistic scenario: What and how will be the trajectory of a person where the violent extremism decreases and/or the person commits a less serious violent extremist act.
Worst case or pessimistic scenario: What and how will be the trajectory of a person where the person commits a more serious violent extremist act.
Sideways scenario: What and how will be the violent extremism trajectory of a person change or evolve, related to the manner of victim selection or type of preparation and/or weapons used.
Questions for risk scenarios for violent extremism:
Nature: What type of violent extremism the individual is inclined to commit? Who are possible victims? What is a possible motive? What does the individual want to achieve? Severity: What is the possible psychological and physical damage to victims? Speed: How quickly can the individual resort to violent extremism? Are there risk indicators of an increase in the risk of violent extremism? If yes which? Frequency or duration: How often can / will the violent extremism occur (once, more)? Is the risk chronic or acute, whether or not limited to specific time periods? Probability: Taking into account past data, how likely is it that this type of violent extremism will take place? Individual or group violent extremism: Is the individual capable of a lone acting violent extremist act or can a violent extremist group activity be expected?
Base risk management strategies for violent extremism on the different risk scenarios.
RNR principles: Base risk management on the principles of Risk-Need-Responsivity (Andrews, Bonta, & Wormith, 2010). Someone with a high risk for violent extremism should be subjected to more and intense forms of risk management. Such judicial interference should target dynamic violent extremist indicators and have to be both tailored and applicable to the group (‘External responsivity’) as well as to the individual level (‘Internal responsivity’).
Describe risk management aspects of prevention and recidivism: This must be related to potential scenarios and to relevant individual, social-contextual indicators, and potential psychopathology.
‘Internal responsivity’:
Capacity to change: intelligence, self-knowledge, self-restriction, social skills.
Motivation to change: awareness of problems, sense of guilt or suffering, etc.
Inhibition problems related to frustration, impulsivity, aggression, substances etc.
Social-contextual issues: group pressure, social and relational aspects.
No Evidence Effectivity: Little is known about effective and evidence-based interventions and/or adherent goals for the benefit of targeting violent extremism, such as deradicalization (change of subjects’ ideology), disengagement (change of subjects’ behaviour) or rehabilitation and re-integration (Schmid, 2013). It is important to include such a disclaimer in advisory reports.
Freezing of assets: Realize that assets can be freezed for those that are on national terrorist listings. This will restrict someone’s options for opening bank accounts and obtaining credit cards. Financial transfers are forbidden, also those of friends and families.
Monitoring, supervision, treatment and victim security: Specify and emphasize the difference between these issues for violent extremism. Monitoring is the evaluation of change, for the benefit of risk management for low risk cases for violent extremism. Supervision refers to risk management of high risks and involves control mechanisms and the containment of subjects’ liberties. The goal here is to decrease or limit subjects’ possibilities to commit violent extremist acts by restricting his freedom to act, move, relate and communicate.
Specify risk of violent extremism on individual and group actions.
Additional diagnosis, treatment and interventions: Specify is these aspects need attention.
Security Victims: Think about elements that can increase the security of (potential) victims.
Formulate a final risk judgement in relation to:
Priority of risk of violent extremism.
Risk of bodily harm of victims.
Risk of immediate violent extremism (hours, days, weeks).
Risk of individual or group-based violent extremism. Determine level of supervision and risk management.
Determine need for repeated risk assessments. This depends, among others, on domestic laws and policies, on whether subject is institutionalized of takes part in society, on changes in the living conditions of the subject and on the priority of the specific risk management. Keep in mind that someone’s risk to commit violent extremism is dynamic. For low risks you can evaluate for example every two months, but for high risks continuous evaluations are required. If someone stays institutionalized for several years, a periodical (3-6 months) evaluation may suffice.
Determine and describe potential other risks that require assessment: This could be risk of sexual violence, child or partner violence, suicide or auto mutilation.
