Do You Believe Your Partner is Capable of Killing You? An Examination of Female IPV Survivors’ Perceptions of Fatality Risk Indicators

Abstract

Advocates in the field of intimate partner violence (IPV) have started to more actively engage survivors around their own perceptions of their lethality risk, as well as assist them in developing strategies for reducing and managing risk related to reassault and intimate partner homicide (IPH). Although research has examined the risk factors most associated with risk and utilized this information in the development and validation of risk assessment tools to be used with survivors, less is known about which indicators survivors most associate with lethality risk. This study aims to fill this gap by examining which risk indicators IPV survivors associate with fatality risk. Classification and regression tree analyses were used to differentiate between women who believed their partners were capable of killing them and those who did not. Data on a sample of 213 survivors of IPV used in this analysis were collected as part of a larger study in which a risk assessment instrument was piloted across four counties within New Jersey in 2016. More than three fourths of participants believed that their abuser was capable of killing them. Alhough the majority of survivors in the study felt as though their abusers were capable of killing them, there was variation in how survivors prioritized risk indicators. Factors associated with fatality risk included: (a) prior homicide threats; (b) whether the abusers had control over survivors’ daily activities; (c) abusers’ access to a gun; and (d) abusers’ drug use. Findings suggest that IPV survivors need targeted intervention strategies around IPH, particularly those at higher perceived risk levels given the presence of risk indicators and their perceptions of lethality threat.

Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence during Lockdown and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Indeed, gun ownership has increased in the U.S.A. since the start of the pandemic and gun related injuries or fatalities have increased in many regions (Hatchimonji et al 2020;Sutherland et al 2020). The ownership of a weapon has been identified as an important fatality risk indicator by female victims (Johnson et al 2020), suggesting that many abuse victims are, for good reasons, fearing for their lives during the pandemic. Of course, the presence of a weapon not only impacts on the likelihood of homicide; it may also impact on the abuser's ability to control their victim, victim distress and anxiety, and suicide rates (Lynch and Logan 2018;Mannix et al 2020;Sorenson and Schut 2018).…”

Risk Assessment Instruments for Intimate Partner Femicide: A Systematic Review

“…The first study was published in 1986 in the United States (Campbell, 1986 ), and it has continued similarly in subsequent years. Twenty-seven studies were located in the United States to date, in each of the following years: Campbell ( 1986 ), McFarlane et al ( 1998 ), Glass et al ( 2008 ), Campbell et al ( 2009 ); Glass et al ( 2009 ); Snider et al ( 2009 ), Glass et al ( 2010 ), Messing et al ( 2013 ), Bianchi et al ( 2014 ); Messing et al ( 2014 ), Messing et al ( 2015a , b ), Messing and Campbell ( 2016 ); Messing et al ( 2016 ), Brignone and Gomez ( 2017 ); Grant and Cross-Denny ( 2017 ); Messing et al ( 2017 ), Dutton et al ( 2018 ); Ward-Lasher et al ( 2018 ), Dutton et al ( 2019 ); Richards et al ( 2019 ); Sabri et al ( 2019 ), Johnson et al ( 2020 ); Messing et al ( 2020a , b ) and Anderson et al ( 2021 ); Williams et al ( 2021 ). Other studies have been done, for the last years, in other countries such as Spain in and Echeburúa et al ( 2009 ), Canada in Storey and Hart ( 2014 ), China in Wang ( 2015 ), Portugal in Cunha and Goalves ( 2016 ), and Norway in Nesset et al ( 2017 ), Spain in López-Ossorio et al ( 2021 ) and Echeburúa et al ( 2009 ).…”

“…The sample size varied among the studies between 16 and 4,665 participants. This is constituted by a common sample of women victims of IPF, attempted IPF, and PVW by current or former male partners in heterosexual relationships (Campbell, 1986 ; McFarlane et al, 1998 ; Glass et al, 2008 , 2009 , 2010 ; Campbell et al, 2009 ; Snider et al, 2009 ; Messing et al, 2013 , 2014 , 2015a , b , 2016 , 2017 , 2020a , b ; Bianchi et al, 2014 ; Storey and Hart, 2014 ; Wang, 2015 ; Messing and Campbell, 2016 ; Brignone and Gomez, 2017 ; Nesset et al, 2017 ; Richards et al, 2019 ; Sabri et al, 2019 ; Johnson et al, 2020 ; López-Ossorio et al, 2021 ). These aggressors are also included (Echeburúa et al, 2009 ; Storey and Hart, 2014 ; Cunha and Goalves, 2016 ; Nesset et al, 2017 ; Anderson et al, 2021 ; López-Ossorio et al, 2021 ; Williams et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Most of the studies used similar data collection strategies from interviews and questionnaires directly from victims (Campbell, 1986 ; McFarlane et al, 1998 ; Glass et al, 2008 , 2009 , 2010 ; Campbell et al, 2009 ; Snider et al, 2009 ; Messing et al, 2013 , 2014 , 2015b , 2016 , 2017 , 2020a ; Bianchi et al, 2014 ; Wang, 2015 ; Brignone and Gomez, 2017 ; Richards et al, 2019 ; Sabri et al, 2019 ; Johnson et al, 2020 ), aggressors (Snider et al, 2009 ; Messing et al, 2015a ; Cunha and Goalves, 2016 ; Williams et al, 2021 ) and professionals (Dutton et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Ward-Lasher et al, 2018 ). One uses focus groups (Grant and Cross-Denny, 2017 ).…”

“…Scientific evidence reveals that there are notable differences in victim, offender and situational characteristics that contribute to the probability of PPW escalating to IPF (Jung and Stewart, 2019 ; Overstreet et al, 2021 ). The increase in frequency and severity of violence, separation/divorce and kill threats are some of the main factors on which research in the field agree (Nicolaidis et al, 2003 ; Belfrage and Rying, 2004 ; Campbell et al, 2009 ; Dobash and Dobash, 2011 ; Kivivuori and Lehti, 2012 ; Vatnar and Bjørkly, 2013 ; Cunha and Goncalves, 2016 ; Johnson et al, 2020 ; Monckton Smith, 2020 ; Abrunhosa et al, 2021 ). It is the occurrence of certain elements that lead to IPF, not a simple progression of violence (Dobash et al, 2007 ).…”