The Lethality Assessment Program’s (LAP) Impact on Self-protective Actions and Empowerment Among Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: A Quasi-experimental Design

• In Event: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence: Victim Background, Response, and Service Use

Abstract

The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) is a widely used protocol that aims to empower non-clinical practitioners such as law enforcement officers to screen victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) for IPV severity and potential lethality and then connect them directly to IPV service providers (via telephone). Although the LAP is widely used in several states, little research to date has empirically assessed whether the LAP process actually impacts victim’s rates of IPV service use and/or victim’s understanding of or satisfaction with the process. Using a quasi-experimental design, the present research examines whether greater service use is associated with victims of IPV who have received the LAP compared to victims of IPV who have not completed the LAP as well as victim perspectives on the LAP process.

Authors

• Tara Nicole Richards, University of Baltimore

• Lane Kirkland Gillespie, Boise State University

• Katherine Kafonek, University of Delaware