MSW: 'THIS INTRUDES THE DV AGENDA INTO FAMILIES WITHOUT PERM

[Daanyeer]

Source: mensdaily
Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families
Michael Freeny, MSW: ‘This intrudes the DV agenda into families without their permission’
2009-02-23 at 10:02 am · Filed under blog

"The article speaks of the spiral of death in domestic violence, yet statistics provided in the article note that there were 8,000 DV events reported to police last year and only 8 DV related deaths. That's .1%."

Michael Freeny, MSW, wrote me with an interesting commentary about the recent Orlando Sentinel article Questionnaire helps Orlando police break spiral of domestic abuse (2/11/09). The article says "Orlando cops will soon carry a new weapon when they respond to domestic-violence calls: a questionnaire designed to predict whether a victim could eventually be killed by an abuser." Michael writes:

Traditionally in domestic violence interventions a police officer will offer the victim the business card of the local DV agency. This article is about the local DV agency teaming up with law enforcement to assess risk of severe or murderous DV situations. It starts as a good idea until you get to the details.

The agency is working on a risk assessment questionnaire administered to the victim by the police at the scene. The police file it with the arrest/incident report and it is reviewed by the DV agency as well as sent to the Judge. The questionnaire asks things like:

*Have you recently separated from or talked about leaving your partner?
*Is there a firearm in the house or accessible to your partner?
*Do you believe your partner will kill you?
*Does your partner control all or most of your daily activities?
*Is your partner violently and constantly jealous of you?

They would not, of course, ask any questions of mutual battering or female-initiated violence. They obtain the information in the heat of an incident and then use it later in court when many DV victims cool down and want their partners back. In fact, if the woman isn’t cooperative with the wishes of the DV agency, the risk assessment can call into question her ability to protect her children,

The article also states:

A Harbor House advocate will check the questionnaires and contact individuals whose scores are high enough that experts think they are in grave danger.

"I say, 'I'm contacting you because your situation has come to a point where the next step for you may be death.' I can be pretty blunt," said Harbor House advocate Denise Machado, who offers space in a shelter or other assistance.

This is an excellent way to intrude the DV agenda into innocent families without their permission.

The article speaks of the spiral of death in domestic violence, yet statistics provided in the article note that there were 8,000 DV events reported to police last year and only 8 DV related deaths. That's .1%. What percentage of the assessments will trigger a contact?