When Love Turns Violent: Interrupting Interpersonal Violence Through Behavioral Threat Assessment

• In Event: When Criminology meets Psychology: Bridging Psychological Perspectives in Criminal Behavior

Abstract

Interpersonal Violence (IPV) – also known as domestic violence – is a complex dynamic that can involve psychological, emotional, sexual, financial, and even medical abuse between current or former intimates. IPV is also one of the most common forms of physical violence across the globe, affecting one in four women, one in 13 men, and accounting for over one-third of all femicides. The trauma and injuries caused by IPV are not restricted to the home, as horrific as IPV is for its immediate victims. IPV is a risk factor in mass shootings and increases vulnerability for radicalization by terrorist groups. Yet, despite its risks and impacts, IPV is a public health crisis that continues to pervade homes, workplaces, and communities, shattering lives and the sense of safety required to live meaningfully.
In recent decades, Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) – an evidence-based approach for preventing and mitigating targeted violence – has proven effective in interrupting potential acts of interpersonal violence. In this presentation, the behavioral risk factors associated with IPV and the BTAM approach to assessing and intervening with IPV situations will be explored. An overview of cross-cultural IPV dynamics, structured professional judgment tools, and trauma-informed intelligence gathering will be provided. Case studies will be used to illustrate how the BTAM process can be applied by law enforcement, in the workplace, by schools, in health care centers, and in other organizations to interrupt interpersonal violence and contribute to ending the IPV crisis.

Author

• Diana Concannon, Alliant International University (USA)