Structured Spousal Violence Risk Assessment: Combining Risk Factors and Victim Vulnerability Factors

Police officers in two police counties in Sweden were trained in using an extended version of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) in consecutive real life cases of reported spousal assault during the period May 2005 – December 2006 (N = 698). Besides the original 10 perpetrator risk factors included in the B-SAFER, an additional 5 victim vulnerability factors were coded. All B-SAFER factors were then analyzed versus the degree of risk the police officers concluded. The aim was to investigate whether victim vulnerability factors to any extent contribute to the police officers’ risk assessments in the context of spousal assault and to study how common such factors are, and also if these factors can be coded in an acceptable way. The results showed a strong correlation between number of B-SAFER factors and the degree of risk that the police officers assessed. Generally, the more B-SAFER factors that were coded as present, the higher the risk for recidivism was coded by the police. Victim vulnerability factors were less common than perpetrator risk factors, but had an equally strong correlation to the overall risk assessed by the police. We conclude that victim vulnerability factors seem to have an important role when assessing spousal violence risk and thus should preferably be included in structured spousal assault risk assessment tools.