Assessing Dangerousness

Practitioners in the social, behavioral, and health fields often work with perpetrators and survivors of interpersonal violence. Many are asked to make predictions about the likelihood of future violence. Assessing Dangerousness reviews the intricacies of predicting intimate partner violence and homicide as well as child abuse and homicide to better prepare readers to make such assessments. Extensively revised, this classic volume highlights the latest research in clear and accessible language. Each contributor, a noted expert in his or her field, has faced the difficult task of assessing the risk of intimate partner violence or child abuse in courtrooms, clinics, shelters, hospitals, schools, and more. The contributors’ experience in research and practice makes this the go-to resource for anyone interested in learning about making predictions with regard to violent behavior in family settings.

Assessing Dangerousness, Third Edition:

• Presents clinical and court examples requiring the assessment of risk and danger that appeal to practitioners in social work, psychology, nursing, counseling, criminology, and public health.
• Introduces an evidence-based approach that practitioners can use to integrate risk assessment in a variety of settings.
• Covers the latest risk assessment instruments for use in the field, including the Danger Assessment, the DVSI-R, and the ODARA.
• Highlights the newest and most promising applications of risk assessment such as the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment Program.
• Synthesizes related legal and ethical issues to help practitioners implement risk assessment in a responsible way.
• Identifies prediction factors and risk markers for use in interventions.
• Exposes the overlap between child and intimate partner homicide, which is instrumental in identifying families with multiple risks.
• Presents the latest research on the risk of reassault in intimate partner violence and considers that risk over the life course.
• Reviews the latest version of Dr. Campbell’s Danger Assessment, the most widely used homicide risk assessment instrument for survivors of intimate partner violence.
• Introduces two new authors in the chapters on child abuse lethality assessments and risk of intimate partner violence, exposing readers to the rising stars in the field.

Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and the Anna D. Wolf Chair at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She is a national leader in research and advocacy in the field of domestic violence, or intimate partner violence (IPV). She has authored or coauthored more than 250 publications and seven books on violence, its health outcomes, and interventions for survivors.

Jill Theresa Messing, PhD, MSW, is associate professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University (ASU).