Risk Assessment - Can We Predict Further Violence?

Wouldn’t it be convenient if we just had a check off list for figuring out whether the person we want to enter a relationship with could turn abusive?  Well, it’s not quite that easy, but there are some indicators of risks that the criminal justice system can use to try to determine how high the risks of danger are for person involved in perpetrating domestic violence.  This tool helps courts and counsellors look at a situation and what it could turn into in the future.   Is this magic?  Is it the cure-all for DV?  Can it help eliminate homicides?  We will talk risk assessment, how it can help, what the weaknesses are, and what the latest research shows on Saturday with Connie Sponsler-Garcia of the Battered Women’s Justice Project.  She’s worked for more than 30 years as an advocate for adult and child victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and domestic trafficking; she’s run a battered women’s shelter; and she served on the Department of Defense Domestic Violence Task Force.  She helps combine fatality review findings and community safety assessment methodology in Arizona and is a consultant to the Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative.