Assessing risk markers in intimate partner femicide and severe violence: a new assessment instrument.
The aim of this study is to develop a scale to predict intimate partner femicide and severe violence. The sample consists of 1,081 batterer men who were reported to the police station. First, the most significant differences between the severe violence group (n = 269) and the less severe violence group (n = 812) in sociodemographic variables are determined. Both aggressors and victims of the severe violence group have a higher rate of immigration. Second, the proposed 20-item scale is derived from a larger 58-item scale, where only the most discriminative items between severe and nonsevere intimate partner violence are taken into account. Psychometric properties of reliability and validity are rather good. Cutoff scores have been proposed according to sensitivity and specificity. This easy-to-use tool appears to be suitable to the requirements of criminal justice professionals and is intended for use in safety planning. Implications of these results for further research are discussed.
Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del País Vasco, San Sebastián, Spain. enrique.echeburua@ehu.es
Enrique
E
Echeburúa
Javier
J
Fernández-Montalvo
Paz
P
de Corral
José J
JJ
López-Goñi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006708:Homicide / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult