Conceptualizing family members of violent mentally ill individuals as a vulnerable population

A review of literature concerning familial violence and mental illness using the Vulnerable Populations Conceptual Model (VPCM) as an organizing framework is presented. Since family members are most likely to be targets if a person who is mentally ill becomes violent, this review emphasizes the VPCM concepts of resource availability (including capital, stigma, and access to healthcare), risk, and health status of those family members. The population-based VPCM was used in an attempt to move the examination of this phenomenon from a focus on the individual to a conceptualization of it as family violence occurring within a broader, social context.