Forensic Report Writing

This chapter presents empirical research on the quality of forensic reports; discuss the essential qualities of a good forensic report and common errors, with examples from practice. Initially the chapter explains the outcome of violence risk assessment in forensic reports and the basic structure of a forensic report in criminal cases. Then the chapter covers the findings from the psychological tests and the findings from the different data sources into a coherent picture. It also provides a brief review of the present state of the research literature on violence risk communication, revealing the ongoing debate among scholars on this issue. The chapter concludes that forensic report writing is both a science and an art, in need of continuing critical reflection by forensic evaluators, because of the impact of these reports on the lives of the assesses.