The SAPROF (Structured Assessment of Protective Factors) has recently been developed as an instrument for the structured assessment of protective factors for violence risk. Following the Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) model, the SAPROF was designed as a positive addition to other SPJ risk assessment tools, such as the HCR-20 (Historical Clinical Risk - 20; Webster, Douglas, Eaves & Hart, 1997), creating a more balanced assessment of risk for future (sexual) violence. The SAPROF aims to contribute to an increasingly accurate and well-rounded assessment of risk for future violent behavior. Moreover, the dynamic positive approach of protective factors aims to create new opportunities for effective and achievable treatment interventions. Retrospective results at the Van der Hoeven Kliniek in The Netherlands show good interrater reliability and good predictive validity for violent recidivism. Moreover, the changeability of the protective factors in the SAPROF during treatment provides an indication for the usability of the SAPROF as a guideline for positive treatment planning and risk management (De Vries Robbé, De Vogel, & De Spa, under review). Frequent users of the SAPROF in forensic psychiatry state that the instrument can be helpful in formulating treatment goals, justifying stages of treatment, atoning treatment phasing and facilitating risk communication (Van den Broek & De Vries Robbé, 2008).
Vivienne de Vogel, Corine de Ruiter, Yvonne Bouman and Michiel de Vries Robbé (2007) originally developed the SAPROF in Dutch and in 2009 the English Version was published. A German version will be published end of 2009.