Description:

Although all DV/IPV cases involve some risk of serious or fatal injury, there are certain characteristics of abusers and abuser/victim relationships which have been found to be present in a high percentage of IPV-homicide and murder-suicide cases. Prediction of lethal violence is by no means an exact science, but identification of lethality risk factors (LRFs) in a case can help police officers, victim advocates, prosecutors, and FVIP facilitators intervene most effectively to promote offender accountability and victim safety. This training will explore each risk factor and its link to potentional lethality; outline effective interview strategies to clearly identify any LRFs present in a case; define appropriate reporting protocol to stimulate prompt, coordinated community response in high risk cases; and suggest targeted intervention strategies that can be used in FVIPs to help abusers identify and manage their lethality risk factors, thereby reducing their likelihood of escalating to point of lethal violence.

 

Learning Objectives:

1) To be able to define and recognize those characteristics of abusers and abuser/victim relationships that have been identified as primary and secondary LRFs;

2) To understand how each LRF is related to heightened risk of lethal violence and how certain combinations of LRFs indicate even more dramatic risk;

3) To develop a collection of targeted questions to ask when assessing for LRFs, as well as strategies for effective reporting when risk factors are identified; and

4) To explore ways of integrating assessment for LRFs into FVIP intakes and group sessions in order to adequately report risk factors to victim liaisons and entice clients to partner in monitoring for any escalation of their LRFs.

Training conducted by IPV Specialists.

 

GCFV Approved training for 12 FVIP Hours