Is it possible to use the HCR-20 V2 to assess the risk of violent recidivism of French offenders?

The Historical-Clinical-Risk Management Scale 20 (HCR-20) is a structured tool to assess the risk of violence and assist in its management. French professionals are reluctant to use it because only a few studies have shown its psychometric qualities with French samples. The objective of this study is to test the psychometric qualities of the HCR-20 with samples of violent detainees in France. The HCR-20 and Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) were administered to 128 violent offenders with an average age of (44.16±12.30) years. We evaluated the reliability, internal consistency and validity of the HCR-20 and conducted an exploratory factor analysis. The results show that the HCR-20 has good psychometric qualities with a sample of French prisoners. Only the Risk domain presents weak results due to the data collection locations and the participants’ age. Correlations were observed between certain factors. The exploratory factor analysis shows four factors explaining 44% of the variance. The continuation of this work will enable French professionals to use sound tools to assess the risk of recidivism.