Janet Sullivan Wilson

Factors related to posttraumatic stress symptoms in women experiencing police-involved intimate partner violence.

Relationships among intimate partner violence (IPV), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, health, and danger, using M.A. Duttons Empowerment framework, were examined among 423 ethnically diverse women in contact with police due to IPV. Significant predictors of PTSD symptoms in multivariate analysis included Danger Assessment score, poor overall health, abuse leading to pain, victim expectations of future injury victimization, feeling unsafe, and shame. Results provide further evidence supporting routine assessment for violent trauma and PTSD as well as the need for research testing holistic interventions for women traumatized by violence.

The Lethality Screen: The Predictive Validity of an Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment for Use by First Responders

This research is an examination of the predictive validity of the Lethality Screen, a tool used in conjunction with the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP). This intimate partner violence (IPV) risk assessment is an 11-item version of the Danger Assessment (DA) that was designed to be user-friendly for first responders and to maximize sensitivity. Participants (N = 254) were recruited into the study at the scene of police-involved IPV incidents in one Southwestern state and subsequently participated in two structured telephone interviews approximately 7 months apart. These analyses provide evidence that the Lethality Screen has considerable sensitivity (92%-93%) and a high negative predictive value (93%-96%) for near lethal and severe violence. However, specificity was low (21%). The Lethality Screen also has good agreement with the DA and IPV survivors’ perception of risk. The high sensitivity and low specificity should be considered carefully when determining whether the Lethality Screen is appropriate for particular areas of practice with IPV survivors and/or perpetrators.

The Oklahoma Lethality Assessment Study: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the Lethality Assessment Program

This quasi-experimental field trial examined the effectiveness of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), a police–social service collaboration wherein social service practitioners provide advocacy, safety planning, and referral for services over the telephone during police-involved intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents for women at high risk of homicide. We conducted structured telephone interviews with survivors as soon as possible after the incident of violence and again approximately 7 months later. The majority of participants (61.6 percent) recruited during the intervention phase of the study talked to the hotline advocates, and propensity score–matched analyses indicate that women who received the intervention reported using significantly more protective strategies and were victimized by significantly less physical violence than women in the comparison group. While additional research needs to be conducted, this study demonstrates that the LAP is a promising evidence-informed intervention that holds the potential to increase survivors’ safety and foster decisions of self-care.

Collaborating With Police Departments: Recruitment in the Oklahoma Lethality Assessment (OK-LA) Study:

In a study to evaluate a collaborative police and social service intervention, researchers asked police officers to recruit intimate partner violence victims at the scene of domestic violence incidents. This article reviews the process of building successful partnerships with police departments as well as the strategies developed with collaborating police departments to create successful recruitment methods and enhance officer and department engagement with recruitment procedures. Over a period of 298 days, 800 victims were referred to the research study. Of these referrals, we were unable to contact 41.3%; of those contacted ( n = 471), we conducted interv iews with 67.73%.

The association between protective actions and homicide risk: findings from the Oklahoma Lethality Assessment Study.

This study focuses on the relationship between women’s risk of homicide as measured by the Danger Assessment and 13 protective actions. Participants (N = 432) experienced an incident of police involved intimate partner violence (IPV) and subsequently completed a structured telephone interview. Most women in this sample experienced severe violence and were classified as being at high risk for homicide. Participants engaged in an average of 3.81 (SD = 2.73) protective actions. With the exception of the use of formal domestic violence services, women in the high-risk category were significantly more likely than women in the lower risk category to have used each of the protective actions examined. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The lethality assessment program: Which survivors of intimate partner violence are most likely to participate?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential use of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) – a risk-informed, collaborative police-social service intervention – across female victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in four police jurisdictions in Oklahoma. Design/methodology/approach – Women visited by the police during the study period participated in semi-structured telephone interviews. Logistic regression was utilized to examine what factors impacted implementation of the LAP. Findings – There was differential use of the intervention based on the following: jurisdiction, severe violence at the incident, perpetrator’s use of a weapon ever in the relationship, PTSD symptomology, and women’s prior protective actions and utilization of domestic violence advocacy services. Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine the decision-making process of survivors and police officers to better elucidate the meaning behind these statistical relationships. Pra...