Threat Assessment and Management in Higher Education

In the wake of the Lauren McCluskey slaying at the University of Utah in October 2018, questions remain regarding the contributing factors leading to the untimely death of this college athlete given the federal regulations in place which are designed to provide assistance to victims of intimate partner violence and stalking (IPV/S). This case study assesses the role that case management and victim advocacy played in this instance of IPV/S in a campus setting. Holistic case management is the cornerstone of threat assessment and management, both during and after the initial indication of a potential threat. To successfully manage threat cases, timely and effective communication is required. To this end, poor case management and victim advocacy can be seen as contributing factors that led to the death of Lauren McCluskey. Public Significance StatementThis case study demonstrates the importance of threat assessment and victim safety planning for intimate partner violence and stalking cases on college campuses. Universities receiving federal funding have a legal responsibility under Title IX to keep members of their community safe from internal and external threats of violence. In order to safeguard campus communities, all students, faculty, and staff must receive regular training on intimate partner violence and intimate partner stalking, be knowledgeable about resources, what they can do to protect themselves, and must furthermore promote a culture where safety is everyone's responsibility.

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See 2 more Smart Citations

Intimate partner violence on campus: A victim-centered case study.

Drumhiller¹

2022

“…Identifying individuals on a trajectory toward violence is a major goal of identifying distal risk factors, proximal warning behaviors, and other signs of concern (collectively, “warning signs”). Research regarding warning signs is relatively plentiful for certain venues, such as school attacks (Mohandie & Meloy, 2014; Polanin et al, 2021), higher educational institutions (Deisinger et al, 2014; Drysdale et al, 2013), or workplace generally (Rugala & Isaacs, 2002; White, 2021), but health care settings have received relatively lesser attention. We did not identify any studies to date comprehensively exploring warning signs prior to attacks in health care settings or comparisons between motivations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Violence in a place of healing: Weapons-based attacks in health care facilities.

Huffman¹,

Amman²

2023

We examined 137 incidents of potentially lethal, weapon-enabled, targeted violence at health care facilities between 2008 and 2017 in the U.S. using open-source data. Individually held grievances by the perpetrator were commonly present. Perpetrators most commonly targeted one person, though collateral victimization did occur. Two thirds of cases involved at least one fatality. Firearm use outnumbered other forms of attack, followed distally by stabbing, blunt force trauma, and strangulation. Hospitals and residential care facilities represented the overwhelming majority of venues; patient rooms, main corridors/waiting areas, and parking areas were the most common locations of attack within facilities. Various attack characteristics, including weapon choice, perpetrator and victim relationship to the venue, incident location within a venue, were more frequently observed for certain motivations. Incidents involving an existing/former intimate relationship between the perpetrator and victim represented the largest proportion of cases. Preincident warning behaviors were most likely reported in cases motivated by disgruntlement with a perpetrator's own care or by intimate partner animus (IPA), and least likely in cases motivated by "mercy" or despondence over a loved one's health. These attacks usually continued until concluded by the perpetrator; perpetrator suicide occurred in a minority of cases. Potential mitigation measures are proposed for threat assessment professionals and facility staff. Public Significance StatementOur study revealed differences in perpetrator, attack, and victim characteristics based on motive for attack and expanded the current literature body on targeted attacks by including multiple types of health care facilities and weapons. The findings highlight unique vulnerabilities associated with each motive.

University policy support for threat assessment: A case analysis of public higher education institutions in one U.S. state.

Camacho,

Petkewich,

Dwyer

et al. 2023

Utilizing case study methodology, we examined the written threat assessment policies of all public, 4-year higher education institutions in one U.S. state. We found that only five of the 11 institutions had written threat assessment policies in place. Those institutions that did have policies in place often did not include all of the best practice recommendations for effective threat assessment policies as indicated in the threat assessment literature. Specifically, we found that team compositions often did not include representation from all areas of the campus community, that there were inconsistencies in how reports were made, and that guidelines were not clear as to how campus officials would work with outside agencies to provide support to individuals affected by threatened violence. The implications that this case study has for policy development and practice will be discussed.