Risk assessment tools and criminal reoffending: Does bias determine who is “high risk”?


In The Netherlands in 1993, a man named Thomas was convicted of an arson in which no one was injured. Thomas was sentenced to four years in prison and involuntary treatment in a secure mental health facility. Based solely on professional opinion, Thomas was deemed too dangerous for release. If risk assessment tools had been available and used to evaluate Thomas, he would likely have been deemed a low risk to reoffend i . On the other hand, the professionals were firmly convinced that Thomas was dangerous – would risk assessment tools, therefore, have led to a different outcome? Risk…