Structured Professional Judgment in New York Violence Risk Opinions: Method Over Score

Stephan M. Carlson, MD, MBA, FAPA · Violence and Threat Risk

A violence risk opinion is not a prediction; it is a structured argument about what raises and lowers risk for this person, under what conditions, and what would change it. New York opinions fail less often on the number they produce than on the reasoning they cannot show. Where violence risk opinions enter a New York case Risk is rarely litigated in the abstract; it surfaces at decision points the statute creates, and each frames "risk" differently. Emergency admission under Mental Hygiene Law §9.39 requires a likelihood to result in serious harm, which since the 2025 amendment effective August 7, 2025 reaches not only conduct showing the person is dangerous to self or others but also an in

Most relevant service: Violence & Threat Risk Assessment