Using Offender Risk Assessment Data to Explore Nonfatal Strangulation in the Context of Community Supervision

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Forensic Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Risk assessments are crucial for identifying high-risk domestic violence (DV) offenders under community supervision.
• Limited research has explored factors differentiating nonfatal strangulation (NFS) offenders from those committing less severe DV offenses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare risk and need factors between offenders convicted of NFS and misdemeanor DV offenses.
• To identify characteristics associated with the use of strangulation in domestic violence.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Wisconsin Risk Need assessment.
• Compared risk and need factors for 909 offenders sentenced to probation for NFS or misdemeanor DV offenses.
• Employed logistic regression models to analyze differences.

Main Results:

• Offenders with NFS showed higher rates of chronic alcohol problems, marital, family, and emotional instability compared to misdemeanor DV offenders.
• NFS offenders had a lower likelihood of previous probation revocations.
• Findings suggest specific characteristics associated with strangulation behavior.

Conclusions:

• Probation officers can use identified characteristics to better identify offenders prone to using strangulation.
• Further research is recommended to evaluate additional risk assessment tools for NFS offenders.