Danger Assessment

What is Danger Assessment?

The Danger Assessment is a validated, evidence-based risk assessment instrument originally developed by Dr. Jacquelyn C. Campbell in 1986 (Glass & Campbell, 2004). It is designed to help healthcare professionals, domestic violence advocates, law enforcement officials, and shelter workers determine the risk of intimate partner homicide in cases of intimate partner violence. The danger assessment requires medical practitioners and other trained professionals to systematically evaluate risk factors that are statistically linked to lethal outcomes in domestic violence situations.

This tool consists of a one-year calendar and a 20-item questionnaire. The calendar increases accurate recall by helping the abused woman mark the dates when physically abusive incidents occurred. The questionnaire addresses key risk factors such as weapon ownership, threats to kill, employment instability, sexual violence, and patterns of physical violence. The danger assessment helps by providing a structured method to quantify danger and prioritize intervention for victims.

Widely used across domestic violence services, law enforcement, and the criminal justice system, the danger assessment holds strong content validity support. Its weighted scoring system allows practitioners to classify the severity of the risk, ensuring that those at the highest risk are connected quickly to appropriate safety planning and resources.

Professionals who regularly encounter abused women, such as nurses, social workers, and police officers, use the danger assessment to make informed decisions in high-stakes situations. By integrating this risk assessment into practice, providers strengthen their ability to identify, support, and protect individuals facing the most serious threats from an intimate partner.

How does it work?

Medical professionals can efficiently integrate Carepatron’s Danger Assessment Template into their workflow to evaluate the risk of intimate partner homicide. Using a clear, structured approach, practitioners can conduct the assessment, interpret results accurately, and provide informed support to those at risk. Here’s how to use the template effectively:

Step 1: Access the template

Click the "Use template" button to instantly open and edit the Danger Assessment within Carepatron’s platform. Once inside the app, you can quickly begin using the digital template in your clinical or support setting.

Step 2: Use the template in patient assessment

Incorporate the Danger Assessment during routine evaluations when intimate partner violence is suspected or confirmed. This ensures you systematically identify key risk factors while maintaining a consistent, evidence-based approach to patient safety planning.

Step 3: Conduct the assessment

Guide the patient through completing both parts of the Danger Assessment: marking the one-year calendar for abuse incidents and answering the 20 risk factor questions. Provide clear, compassionate instructions to ensure responses are as accurate and complete as possible.

Step 4: Gather and interpret results

Once completed, calculate the score based on the weighted system built into the template. Interpret the results using the provided categories—variable, increased, severe, or extreme danger—to determine the patient’s risk level and required intervention urgency.

Step 5: Discuss findings

Professionally review the results with the patient, ensuring they understand their assessed level of danger. Use this conversation to validate their experiences, highlight urgent safety needs, and introduce available protective measures or resources.

Step 6: Provide patient support and next steps

Based on the identified risk level, patients should be connected with appropriate safety planning, legal services, or domestic violence resources. Document findings thoroughly and coordinate follow-up care to ensure ongoing support aligned with best practice standards.

Scoring and interpretation

The Danger Assessment is scored using a weighted system that evaluates the presence and severity of specific risk factors linked to intimate partner homicide. Medical professionals first add the total number of "yes" responses across all 20 items.

Then, weighted points are applied: 4 points for each "yes" to questions 2 and 3, 3 points for a "yes" to question 4, 2 points for each "yes" to questions 5, 6, and 7, and 1 point for each "yes" to questions 8 and 9. If question 3a is checked (never lived with the partner), subtract 3 points.

The final sum gives the Danger Assessment score. Interpretation is categorized into four levels: 0–7 (variable danger), 8–13 (increased danger), 14–17 (severe danger), and 18 or more (extreme danger). Higher scores reflect an increased risk, requiring urgent protective measures. This scoring method is evidence-based and validated for predicting lethal violence risk.

Benefits of using this assessment

Integrating the Danger Assessment into clinical workflows offers medical professionals a structured, evidence-based method to evaluate the increased risk of near-lethal violence in abusive relationships. This tool enhances decision-making during clinical assessment of physically abusive incidents.

For clinical experts, shelter workers, law enforcement officials, and battered women shelter workers, the Danger Assessment streamlines collaboration when responding to family violence. Quantifying risk factors linked to abusive partner behavior supports consistent safety planning across healthcare, social services, and criminal justice systems. While the Danger Assessment is only the first step in evaluating battered women or child abusers, it provides a critical foundation for further action.

Additionally, since many survivors have initially reported difficulty recalling past abuse timelines, the inclusion of the calendar section improves memory accuracy during interviews. Overall, this lethality assessment allows professionals to act confidently, back their recommendations with solid research, and deliver more effective care and referrals when encountering victims of family violence.

References

Campbell, J., Glass, N.(2004, January). Danger Assessment. VAWnet. https://vawnet.org/material/danger-assessment