Lethality Assessment for Domestic Violence Survivors

The Criminal Justice professionals from law enforcement to prosecutors have been using an assessment to determine which women are more at risk for being hurt or killed. This screening tool is called the Lethality Assessment Program in some states. Police officers as well as other involved in the law enforcement are taught to use this tool. This program has been very successful in some states like Maryland.

The Criminal Justice System continues to support survivors by coming up with tools like these to save lives. There may be many ethical dilemmas when having to use this tool. For example, how do you chose who to screen? What if they person has not been hurt by anyone, but has some other issues? Will the woman being interviewed feel comfortable with the questions?

Many of the questions asked may not be dilemmas, if the professional is ethical and moral in their approach with this assessment. I will continue to research more about this assessment, inquire about the use of it in the state of N.C. I have included links with Maryland model program and a Journal entry about the tool also.

http://www.ncdsv.org/images/CVI_Assessing-the-Risk-of-IPV_1-2010.pdf

 http://mnadv.org/lethality/

ASSESSING THE RISK OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE, Glen Kercher, Andrea Weiss and Katrina Rufino, Crime Victims' Institute, Criminal Justice Center, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX: January 2010.  This blog completed in satisfaction of the course requirements for CRJU 3060: Ethics and Diversity in Criminal Justice.