Violence Assessment and Intervention: The Practitioner's Handbook, Second Edition

Behavioral science has revealed a wealth of information concerning violence assessment in a wide variety of situations, but the challenge confronted by those dealing with potentially hostile populations is the effective application of this knowledge. Now in its second edition, Violence Assessment and Intervention: The Practitioner’s Handbook, Second Edition supplies concrete, practical approaches to applying behavioral science to threats of violence in communities, businesses, and schools, and describes how to effectively intervene to preserve the safety of victims.

Grounded in the authors’ experience in successfully assessing and managing thousands of cases in a variety of contexts and environments, this practical handbook provides a precise methodology for analyzing potential threat situations and taking action before tragedy occurs. The book begins by demonstrating the violence risk assessment process from the point of the initial call and proceeds through the steps that quantify the situation and determine the appropriate response. The next section covers information gathering, victimology, and formulas and tools for risk assessment. Finally, the book explores organizational influences, ethics, security and consultation issues, and laws related to violence assessment.

New to the Second Edition:

• Previous chapters updated
• New case histories
• Advice on how to obtain additional behavioral information in victim and witness interviews
• An examination of ethical problems caused by unqualified assessors
• A chapter on post-secondary education which addresses the problem of school shootings
• An in-depth look at which assessment tools work and which are ineffective

The continued occurrence of terrorist attacks and mass murders in workplaces and schools makes the revision for this book a timely one. The authors’ presentation of practical, effective methods of violence risk assessment and intervention takes a step forward in protecting people at risk from these catastrophic and concerted acts of violence.