WELCOME TO THE
About the Center
The Center for Risk Assessment (CRA) is led by Dr. Brandon Yip, Psy.D., J.D. and engages in understanding an individual risk for suicide and violence, along with educating mental healthcare professionals, healthcare professionals, and social services paraprofessionals in suicide and violent threats.
What We Do At The Center
The CRA digests the research and literature on suicide and violent threats and works to understand its application in real world scenarios. The CRA also provides education and consultations to mental health and health care professionals, agencies, and organizations about suicide, violent threats, and risk management.
The CRA has developed the Suicide Risk Assessment Scale and the Violent Threat Risk Assessment Scale to be used in a variety of mental health and health care settings. We continue to develop these scales to incorporate and integrate research on assessing for risk in a culturally diverse population, and meet the needs of agencies and the clients or patients they serve.
Suicide Assessment
Suicide Risk Assessment Scale
The Suicide Risk Assessment Scale assesses an individual on their level of desire, intent, capability, and protective factors, based on the research by Joiner et al. (2007).
The scale applies the research and devises a quantitative perspective of an individual’s risk on acting out on their suicidal ideations.
Joiner et al. (2007) & Yip, Benzaken, & Liu (2017)
Click to view the SRA Scale
Suicide and Culture
Cultural Factors in Suicide Risk Assessment
In suicide assessments of European American, Asian American, and Hispanic American adolescents a relationship between suicide risk and protective factors related to the family system is present. Specifically, family is found more frequently in research on European American adolescent suicide assessment,in contrast to family rejection and the family wanting the suicidal ideations to be kept quiet from others being found more frequently in Asian Americans.Furthermore, lack of sense of belonging, perceived burdensomeness, and perfectionism were found more frequently in Asian American and Hispanic American adolescents compared to European American adolescents.
Asian American
Hispanic American
Yip (2020)
Click to view the Suicide and Culture Research
Yip, Liu, & Kim/ Bemis (2021) & Yip, Liu, & Murray (2018)
Click to view the Publication on Suicide and Culture Research
Violent Threat and Homicide Assessment
Violent Threat Risk Assessment Scale
Violent Threat Assessment Scale was devised to assessing for violent threats and homicide risk in an individual.
The scale looks at an individual’s risk of acting on homicidal ideation through a rating scale of desire, intent, capability, history, along with protective factors, modeled after the Suicide Risk Assessment Scale.
Yip, Benzaken, & Liu (2017)
Click to view the VTRA Scale
More Information
For more information about the scales and assessments, or request a copy of the scales,
please contact the Center for Risk Assessment at byip@alliant.edu
Contact the Center
byip@alliant.edu