International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
By: Raymond B. Flannery, Jr., Ph.D., FACLP
Most Americans are unaware that their risk for exposure to violence is most likely to occur in their own homes by their own family members. Domestic violence, the infliction of physical, sexual, or mental harm on a family member by another family member, may erupt in times of stress. There are at least two types of domestic violence situations that first responders are called to. The first is the family where domestic violence has been occurring on a regular ongoing basis. The second is the previously non-violent family that becomes violent in situations where the family unit is restrained and contained, as is the case in many natural disasters. In a natural disaster, such as covid-19, in both situations of ongoing violence and newly emerging violence, victims have no way to escape, as everyone is sheltering in place. This brief overview reviews notes of the common patterns noted in these families and outlines a basic protocol to serve their needs.
Family Dynamics
It is true that every family situation is unique but research over the years has documented some commonalities in domestic violence situations that may assist the responding officers in understanding what has been occurring and may be continuing in the home before the emergency call was made.
Domestic violence may include physical abuse, sexual abuse, intense torture, verbal abuse/derogatory comments, neglect and abandonment, and/or murder. Victims include both adults and children. The potential assailants include grandparents, parents, children, siblings, aunts, uncles, live-in domestics (including trafficked persons) anyone else who may be residing in the home.
The assailants may be found in all genders, all races, all social classes, and all faith traditions again, which each assailant’s characteristics are unique, they do have some things in common. Many are untreated victims of previous violence in their own lives prior to living together. Many are depressed, have substance abuse issues, fear being abandoned and are entitled. Some have easy access to weapons. By definition, they are poor problem solvers, have no verbal conflict resolution skills, and have an excessive need for control. Faced with resource shortages (e.g., loss of a job) and/or restricted movement (e.g. a pandemic), they strike out in part to restore a sense of mastery and control. Both male and female assailants use a variety of weapons: kicking, stomping, punching, and throwing victims, burns from cigarettes, scalding liquids, knives, hatchets, gunshots, and various other forms of mutilation. Their attacks may results in serious medical injury and intense mental suffering in the form of psychological trauma and untreated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Contrary to common belief, random acts of violence are not random. If one studies enough cases of a specific type of crime, a temporal pattern will emerge. In the case of domestic violence, there are two time patterns: one within the home and one within the community. The temporal pattern within the home is known as the cycle of violence. It has three stages. The first is the tension building phase. Assailants have a pattern of creating increasing tension within the family unit. Every week, every weekend, the third week of the month; there is a pattern and the family unit senses it. The second phase is the inevitable outburst where the domestic violence erupts. The third phase is the contrition phase, where the assailant begs forgiveness, sends flowers, and promises it will never happen again.
Police may encounter all three phases. First, they may be called during the tension building phase, when tempers are short. Second they may be called back to the same family in short order, when the outburst occurs. Police encounter the contrition phase in court. The victim swears out a complaint on Saturday night but by Monday in court, she withdraws the complaint because of the assailant’s contrition gestures on Sunday. To avoid this police may make both the arrest and swearing out the complaint themselves.
The second temporal pattern involves the pattern of many DV occurrences in the community. Most calls occur on weekends, between 8 PM and 11 PM. The violence starts in the kitchen, the assailant has frequently been drinking for most of the day, and in cases of spousal murder, the murder occurs in the bedroom, where there is only one escape route.
The final piece of this brief overview is the obvious question: why don’t they leave? Why do they stay in the lion’s den? The reasons are many and complex. Spousal victims may stay to protect their children, because they are economically dependent, or because they have a predictor cycle in their own minds and can adjust their hurtful lives around it (e.g. “it is Wednesday, it won’t happen today”). Some stay because they have been brain washed into believing the violence is their fault, and ominously, some stay because they correctly fear being stalked and killed, if they leave.
Comprehensive Intervention Protocol
While each responding agency’s protocol will be adapted to local needs, there are some best practices to be considered in an effective total approach.
Suggested Readings:
Flannery, R.B., Jr. The Violent Person: Professional Risk Management Strategies for Safety and Care. New York, NY: American Mental Health Association, 2009.
Krebs, D. When Violence Erupts: A Survival Guide for Emergency Responders. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2003.
Dr. Flannery is the Director of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP) and is on the faculties of Harvard and the University of Massachusetts Medical Schools.
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