ASSESSMENT TOOLS - FEATURED PRE-INCIDENT INDICATORS

THE CASE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REGISTRY

Domestic violence homicide is said to be excedingly difficult to predict.  If we could predict its occurence then perhaps a greater number of "intimate partners" could be better protected from the monsters with whom they live. When victims are able to escape their abusers often move on to repeat the pattern elsewhere and find new partners.

Police departments are largely responsible for responding to calls for help when domestic assault and battery occurs.  They need tools to effectively measure the risks faced by their citizenry including a measure of containment to reduce the likelihood of harm. The June 2011 massacre of Amy Lake and her children in Maine started and ended within 6-8 minutes of onset. The heroic officers at the scene could do nothing to stop the shooting already in progress when they arrived. Abusers are often slowly marginalized from supports and grow alienated and rageful. These cases need to be assessed for the potential for DVH long before the murderer looses control.

There are a number of assessment tools used throughout the country.  Jacqueline Campbell, Ph.D., R.N. developed the Danger Assessment while at Johns Hopkins University as a tool to measure risk factors.  Author Gavin deBecker has a lengthy list of risk indicators in his text The Gift of Fear published in 1997.  Most clinicians and researchers identify several key factors that are red flags for possible violence.  These include such things as the use of weapons, forced sexual contact, pathological jealousy, previous choking incidents, and increasing use of threats to control behavior. Any aggression during pregnancy is also a high risk indicator of a pattern of sadistic behavior.  In future essays I will feature what arguably may be an essential next step in abuse containment - a domestic violence registry.

PERSONAL BLAME - VICTIM CHARACTERISTICS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

UNPREDICTABLE AGGRESSION ALTERS DEVELOPMENTAL TREJCTORY

Many victims of abuse believe if they could be more "perfect" then they would be free from the wrath of their spouse and yet in most cases a growing pattern of abuse may evolve no matter what happens.  Many blame themselves for the random acts of a violent, manipulating spouse.  It is often the randomness of the agression that contributes most to childhood fear and aggression (Sefton).  Many victims acknowledge a naïve hope that their spouse will ultimately change and become the "loving soul" he claimed to be.  This is extremely rare.  In most cases of domestic violence the female victim feels trapped.  She may have children with limited support.  Learned helplessness refers to the insideous resignation and emotional futility felt by the "victim" spouse.  She may believe that nothing she does can change her circumstances.   She may have no employment, limited access to family or friends, no access to the funds necessary to plan her escape – should this become necessary.  In families where domestic violence prevails, children grow up in a setting where physical aggression is condoned as a means of resolving conflict and asserting dominance.  In many families where abuse occurs a harsh, overly punitive parent may exhibit a pattern of sadistic abuse early on - often toward children.  This striking lack of empathy adds to the risk for serious violence.  The notion that violence begets further violence is true and often transcends one generation to the next. 

Sefton, M.  2005. The Evil that Kids Do. Philadelphia: Xlibris.

"It started when I said 'I do...'" - Victim of abuse

Intimate partner aggression is often hidden from family members and certainly from neighbors and friends.  I recently interviewed a 35-year old mother of two small children.  Her complaint was that her spouse of 7 years was emotionally abusive and intimidating.  When asked when the abuse had started she replied "it started as soon as I said I do". 

This is a common report when victims of physical and emotional abuse are interviewed.  Abusive partners sometimes seek "ownership" of a wife or girlfriend and wrongfully believe it is their right to manipulate and control them.  Police and social service agencies become involved depending on the frequency and pervasive quality of these behaviors.

In an effort to contain domestic violence homicide greater awareness of pre-incident indictors is essential.  The secretive nature of these dysfunctional families often will obscure high risk behaviors to all but the immediate family.  A sensitive and trusting relationship between victims and the community at large may reduce the isolation felt by victims of emotional and physical abuse. 

DVH results from the interaction of behavioral underpinnings including history of violence, substance abuse, and extent of alienation felt by the abuser.  The assessment of a potential for violence should be a routine component of domestic violence complaints received by police. 

The Need for Containment

A recent spate of domestic violence homicides in Maine and Massachusetts has led for the call for greater "containment" of abusers.  Since June 2011 there have been over a dozen domestic violence related killings in New England which brings up the issue of how to contain abusers and keep them from killing their families.  Police and social service agencies encounter cases of domestic violence on a daily basis.  The difficulty they experience is how to differentiate the cases of intimate partner aggression from those who go on to murder their spouses and often themselves.