Fixated Threat Assessment Centers: preventing harm and facilitating care in public figure threat cases and those thought to be at risk of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence.

The rediscovery of the importance of mental illness in the risk assessment and management of those who threaten, approach, and harm public figures has led to a new way of dealing with those that threaten public figures. This approach emphasises the role of "fixation" which may be defined as an intense preoccupation pursued to an abnormally intense degree. It integrates a threat assessment paradigm with the literature on stalking. The need for such an approach was highlighted in research on the prevalence of harassment of public figures. Psychiatry has a key role in this approach which sees mental health clinicians and Police work together in Fixated Threat Assessment Centres (FTACs). An FTAC functions by assessing the level of concern and sharing information to facilitate interventions that are often mental health based. The purpose is not the hopeless task of identifying those who will go on to perpetrate serious violence, rather to intervene in the group they emerge from, to prevent harm. As well as decreasing risk to the persons fixated upon, this approach improves care to the mentally disordered people who harass and threaten them and, in doing so, decreases the likelihood of their criminalization while enhancing their quality of life. As expertise in the area has grown, policing and security agencies in several countries have expanded the FTAC model to cover individuals thought at risk of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence, a term that captures both different forms of mass killing and lone actor terrorism.

Psychosocial approaches to violence and aggression: contextually anchored and trauma-informed interventions.

Psychosocial interventions are part of the complex understanding and treatment of violent behavior in our state mental health hospitals. A comprehensive assessment of violence and aggression includes attention to all 3 domains of prevention and assessment (primary-institutional, secondary-structural, and tertiary-direct). Trauma experiences and their consequences may include behavioral violence and aggression. The authors' premise is that trauma is a universal component in the individual assessment of violent behavior. Therapeutic interventions must include a trauma-informed formulation to be effective. Organizational commitment to trauma-informed, person-centered, recovery-oriented (TPR) care is crucial to the efficacy of any of the interventions discussed. Thus, the dynamic nature of the individual, interpersonal, environmental, and cultural factors associated with the daily operations of the inpatient unit need to be assessed through the lens of primary and secondary violence prevention, building on the recognition that the majority of persons served and staff have significant trauma histories. Once a compassionate, respectful, empathic, and empowering approach is embraced by leadership and staff, the work with individuals can proceed more effectively. Interventions used include a variety of cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and somatosensory therapies. These interventions, when effectively applied, result in more self-esteem, self-mastery, self-control for the person served, and diminished behavioral violence.

Responsivity to Interviewer during Interview-Based Assessment of Physical Intimate Partner Violence.

Objective: Interview assessments of intimate partner violence (IPV) may provide more accurate behavior frequency estimates than self-report questionnaires. However, concerns have been raised about whether participants underreport IPV during interviews due to an emotional response to the interviewer. Method: Participants were 42 mixed gender community couples (83 individuals) in which at least one partner endorsed physical IPV perpetration or victimization in their relationship. We examined whether participants were emotionally responsive to the interviewer during an interview about physical IPV. Responsivity was defined as the extent to which participants' emotional arousal, indexed by vocal fundamental frequency (f0), was predicted by interviewers' emotional arousal at the previous talk turn on a moment-by-moment basis. We then examined whether participants' responsivity predicted interview-based reporting of IPV relative to their own self-report on an IPV measure and to the highest other available report (including partner report). Results: Repeated measures actor-partner interdependence models conducted in a multi-level modeling framework indicated that, on average, participants were responsive to interviewers' emotional arousal, even when controlling for responsivity to their own arousal, and that responsivity varied across participants. However, participants' responsivity to interviewer arousal did not significantly predict reporting of IPV perpetration or victimization during the interview relative to their own self-report or to the highest other available report. Conclusions: Participants are emotionally responsive to interviewer arousal, but this responsivity does not appear to reduce interview-based reporting of IPV relative to self-report, supporting the utility of IPV interviews in clinical and research settings.

Different Instruments, Same Content? A Systematic Comparison of Child Maltreatment and Harsh Parenting Instruments.

Child maltreatment and harsh parenting both include harmful actions by parents toward children that are physical (e.g., spanking, slapping) or emotional (e.g., threatening, yelling). The distinction between these two constructs, in meaning and measurement, is often unclear, leading to inconsistent research and policy. This study systematically identified, reviewed, and compared parent-reported child maltreatment (N = 7) and harsh parenting (N = 18) instruments. The overlap in parenting behaviors was 73%. All physical behaviors that were measured in harsh parenting instruments (e.g., spanking, beating up) were also measured in child maltreatment instruments. Unique physical behaviors measured in maltreatment instruments include twisting body parts and choking. All emotional behaviors in maltreatment instruments were included in harsh parenting instruments, and vice versa. Our findings suggest similar, but not identical, operationalizations of child maltreatment and harsh parenting. Our findings can help guide discussions on definitions, operationalizations, and their consequences for research on violence against children.

Development and Validation of the Stalking and Obsessive Relational Intrusions Questionnaire (SORI-Q).

Stalking and obsessive relational intrusions both refer to a pervasive and unwanted pattern of pursuit behaviors, the former being a criminal offense evoking fear and a sense of menace in the victim, while the latter may be perceived as annoying or otherwise undesirable, but not necessarily fear inducing. While the individual and societal costs of stalking and obsessive relational intrusion are increasingly recognized, research regarding these behaviors and their consequences has been limited by measurement issues, as most studies have relied on questionnaires and checklists based on very limited validation data. The goal of the present study is to report on the development and validation of the Stalking and Obsessive Relational Intrusions Questionnaire (SORI-Q), a 28-item self-report questionnaire designed to probe for perpetration of stalking-like behaviors. Young adults (age 18-30 years) from a community sample (N = 1,804; 82.6% women) were recruited online. They completed the SORI-Q, along with measures of dark personality traits, insecure attachment dimensions, and intimate partner violence. Overall, the SORI-Q displayed sound psychometric properties. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis yielded a two-factor solution (Hyper-intimacy and Domineering control) with adequate to good fit indices. The total scale and the two factor scores showed high internal consistency (above 0.70 for all indices). A number of gender differences were observed at total-, factor-, and item-level, the most outstanding being that women had a higher score on the total SORI-Q score, and on the Domineering control factor and most of its items. The questionnaire showed conceptually meaningful positive correlations with dark personality traits, attachment anxiety, and intimate partner violence. Dominance analysis revealed that attachment anxiety and Machiavellianism were the strongest statistical predictors of SORI-Q scores. The SORI-Q should be seen as a promising new measure of stalking-like and ORI behaviors in young adults from community settings.

Examining the Relationship between the Lethality Assessment/Domestic Violence High-risk Team Monitoring (LAP/DVHRT) Program and Prosecution Outcomes.

Lethality assessment (LAP) and team monitoring of high-risk offenders (DVHRT) are recent U.S. policy innovations designed to identify domestic violence offenders who are at high risk for perpetrating serious or lethal violence against their intimate partners. One goal of LAP/DVHRT is to increase offenders' accountability for domestic violence within the legal system. This study examines associations between LAP/DVHRT and prosecution and sentencing outcomes using data on domestic violence offenses (n = 88) involving 37 offenders monitored by a DVHRT and 51 nonmonitored comparison offenders who were identified as high risk on the LAP. We use logistic and OLS regression to estimate models of six prosecution and sentencing outcomes for the full sample and for a sample matched using the coarsened exact matching technique (n = 73). Multivariate results indicate that when the treatment and comparison samples are matched and control variables are included in regression models, the LAP/DVHRT program is not associated with prosecution or conviction rates, number of charges, or bail amount. DVHRT monitoring is positively associated with sentence length in multivariate analysis and in models using the matched sample. Findings suggest that the LAP/DVHRT program increases offender accountability in the form of incapacitation at the sentencing stages.

The impact of machine learning in predicting risk of violence: A systematic review.

Background: Inpatient violence in clinical and forensic settings is still an ongoing challenge to organizations and practitioners. Existing risk assessment instruments show only moderate benefits in clinical practice, are time consuming, and seem to scarcely generalize across different populations. In the last years, machine learning (ML) models have been applied in the study of risk factors for aggressive episodes. The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the potential of ML for identifying risk of violence in clinical and forensic populations. Methods: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic review on the use of ML techniques in predicting risk of violence of psychiatric patients in clinical and forensic settings was performed. A systematic search was conducted on Medline/Pubmed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus. Risk of bias and applicability assessment was performed using Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool (PROBAST). Results: We identified 182 potentially eligible studies from 2,259 records, and 8 papers were included in this systematic review. A wide variability in the experimental settings and characteristics of the enrolled samples emerged across studies, which probably represented the major cause for the absence of shared common predictors of violence found by the models learned. Nonetheless, a general trend toward a better performance of ML methods compared to structured violence risk assessment instruments in predicting risk of violent episodes emerged, with three out of eight studies with an AUC above 0.80. However, because of the varied experimental protocols, and heterogeneity in study populations, caution is needed when trying to quantitatively compare (e.g., in terms of AUC) and derive general conclusions from these approaches. Another limitation is represented by the overall quality of the included studies that suffer from objective limitations, difficult to overcome, such as the common use of retrospective data. Conclusion: Despite these limitations, ML models represent a promising approach in shedding light on predictive factors of violent episodes in clinical and forensic settings. Further research and more investments are required, preferably in large and prospective groups, to boost the application of ML models in clinical practice. Systematic review registration: [www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/], identifier [CRD42022310410].

Development of Attribution-Based Scales Associated With Proactive, Reactive, and Acquisitive Offending.

This study outlines the development of attribution scales to assess the antecedent processes of proactive, reactive, and acquisitive offending. Empirical keying, internal consistency, and item performance were the three test development strategies. Six samples (total N = 1,527) from parole, university, probation, and prison were used. The Proactive scale (10 items) reflected coldness and distance between offender and victims, the Reactive scale (10 items) reflected recklessness and excuses for violent behavior, and the Acquisitive scale (15 items) reflected less negative views of crime and choices. Convergent and discriminant validities were demonstrated by the Proactive scale stronger correlations with planning items, the Reactive scale stronger correlations with affective and person-based items, and the Acquisitive scale stronger correlations with other-based motives. Linking Proactive, Reactive, and Acquisitive scales to an offense provides psychological meaning that can benefit assessment and interventions.

Using Social Media to Explore the Consequences of Domestic Violence on Mental Health.

A great deal of research has focused on the negative consequences of domestic violence (DV) on mental health. However, current studies cannot provide direct and reliable evidence on the impacts of DV on mental health in a short term as it is not feasible to measure mental health shortly before and after an unpredictable event like DV. This study aims to explore the short-term outcomes of DV on individuals' mental health. We collected a sample of 232 victims (77% female) and 232 nonvictims (gender and location matched with 232 victims) on Sina Weibo. In both the victim and nonvictim groups, we measured their mental health status during the 4 weeks before the first DV incident and during the 4 weeks after the DV incident. We used our proposed Online Ecological Recognition (OER) system, which is based on several predictive models to identify individuals' mental health statuses. Mental health statuses were measured based on individuals' Weibo profiles and messages, which included "Depression," "Suicide Probability," and "Satisfaction With Life." The results showed that mental health in the victim group was impacted by DV while individuals in the nonvictim group were not. Furthermore, the victim group demonstrated an increase in depression symptoms, higher suicide risks, and decreased life satisfaction after their DV experience. In addition, the effect of DV on individuals' mental health could appear in the conditions of child abuse, intimate partner violence, and exposure to DV. These findings inform that DV significantly impacts individuals' mental health over the short term, as in 4 weeks. Our proposed new data collection and analyses approach, OER, has implications for employing "big data" from social networks to identify individuals' mental health.

A Validated Screening Instrument for Identifying Intimate Partner Violence in South Asian Immigrant Women.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) for South Asian immigrants is prevalent and has many unique sociodemographic and cultural factors associated with it. Current screening instruments do not address the unique cultural factors associated with IPV in this population. The South Asian Violence Screen (SAVS) is a 14-item screening tool for IPV designed based on the specific demographic and cultural issues affecting South Asian immigrant women in the United States. The tool was validated using the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA), a well-established survey instrument for detecting IPV. The participants in the study included 116 South Asian immigrant women, who were recruited from a medical clinic and two community centers in Chicago, IL. With a prevalence of 23.3% of women reporting physical abuse and 28.4% reporting nonphysical abuse, the negative predictive value of the SAVS compared with the ISA was 0.99 and 0.97 for physical abuse and nonphysical abuse, respectively. When compared with the ISA-physical, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.96 and 0.87, respectively, and when compared with the ISA-nonphysical, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.94 and 0.92, respectively. This study demonstrates that the SAVS is an effective and efficient screening tool in the South Asian immigrant population in Chicago.

Problem Analysis in Community Violence Assessment: Revealing Early Childhood Trauma as a Driver of Youth and Gang Violence.

Problem analysis conducted by a university-based research partner can provide communities with data-driven options to address the local drivers of serious youth and gang violence. Situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, this article describes how subsequent to early childhood trauma being identified as a potential driver of adolescent and young adult violence; problem analysis using local data confirmed that being the victim or witness of a traumatic incident before the age of 12 years was significantly correlated with involvement in violence in adolescence or young adulthood. Although there is a robust literature on the relationship between early childhood trauma and later delinquency, local decision makers did not consider this knowledge actionable until the research partner used the city's own police records to demonstrate the extent of the problem in the city. Rigorous problem analysis, conducted collaboratively between practitioners and an academic research partner, helped to compel local change and ensured that strategies addressed the right risk factors and directed service to the appropriate target population.

Self-reported executive functioning competencies and lifetime aggression.

Neuropsychological research can be advanced through a better understanding of relationships between executive functioning (EF) behavioral competencies and the expression of aggressive behavior. While performance-based EF measures have been widely examined, links between self-report indices and practical real-life outcomes have not yet been established. Executive Functioning Index subscale scores in this sample (N = 579) were linked to trait hostility (Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire), aggression in the natural environment (Lifetime Acts of Violence Assessment), and conduct disorder symptoms prior to age 15. Significant associations were found between all of the EFI subscales (Motivational Drive, Organization, Strategic Planning, Impulse Control, and Empathy), trait aggression, and conduct disturbance. Lifetime acts of aggression were predicted by all but Organization scores. Physical injuries inflicted on other(s) were 2 to 4 times more likely to occur among respondents generating low (z < -1) EFI subscale scores. While these EFI relationships were modest in size, they are pervasive in scope. These findings provide support for the potential role of perceived EF deficits in moderating lifetime aggression.