Determining A Dominant Aggressor
Domestic violence is more than a ‘spat’ or a ‘hiccup’ in a relationship—it is a pattern of power and control. It is one person’s desire for power over another person, and a pattern of using that power to control various aspects of a victim’s life, from food to finances to friends. Domestic violence can be very pervasive. There are definitely themes in these relationships, like blaming the victim for the offender’s behavior, intimidating and threatening a victim, or isolating a victim from her friends and family, but no two offenders are exactly alike. Offenders use a variety of tactics to exert power and control over a victim.
Sometimes determining who the offender is can be quite clear. But other times, there is confusion.
It is critical that SafeHaven and others in this work (law enforcement, hospital systems, the courts) get this right. Imagine being a victim, finally working up the courage to call 9-1-1 or engage with law enforcement, and then witnessing before your very eyes your abuser manipulates the interaction with law enforcement, and then YOU end up being blamed for the abuse rather than identified as the victim. Imagine discovering your abuser presented himself as the victim to the local advocacy group and they believed him. Imagine going to court and having a judge sentence you to an offender group when, really, you’re a victim.
These types of scenarios do happen – as much as we work to avoid it – and when they do, they are devastating to victims, dishing out a secondary trauma in an already tenuous and distressing situation.
A universal tool—to be used nationwide—does not exist. To more effectively, efficiently, and accurately identify the true primary aggressors across all stages of domestic violence cases, an assessment tool needs to be developed for multiagency use. Even if the true primary aggressor is not identified on scene or in the initial entry to the coordinated community response, access to an assessment tool could provide secondary chances at successfully ending abuse against a victim.
In 2022, SafeHaven plans to move forward with the research and development of such a tool. We don’t know what the final tool will look like or even what all the research will entail, but we are up for the task and optimistic about its discovery. In mid-2021, SafeHaven brought in a research intern from The Ohio State University to research current practices that systems are using to determine a primary aggressor, and her research will be used as a spring board to begin the development of the tool.
We hope to begin using the tool at SafeHaven, and then implementing it in local and national agencies that interact with domestic violence victims. It is our expectation that in the future, NO victims are mistaken as the primary aggressor in domestic violence relationships.
Be sure to follow along with our social media and my blog to stay up-to-date on our progress in this research. This is one huge step in making the system work better for domestic violence survivors.
