275 CHAPTER 12 Violence Risk Assessments With Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Abuse Tonia L. Nicholls, Sarah L. Desmarais, Kevin S. Douglas, and P. Randall Kropp Readers likely will be familiar with the idea that many police officers consider domestic violence calls to be among the most difficult and dan- gerous situations to which they must respond. Officers attending domestic disputes often are confronted with tales of “he said she said” and the bur- den of disentangling the truth from blame, denial, and minimization. The challenges inherent in assessing the ongoing risk presented by an individual with a history of offending against his or her partner is no less challenging farther along in the system when victim safety workers, psychologists, psy- chiatrists, judges, and probation officers have the responsibility of deter- mining the risk the perpetrator presents for the victim; this is even more complicated, perhaps, in cases characterized by mutual abuse. Accurate risk assessments with perpetrators of intimate partner abuse are important for a variety of diverse reasons. A proper assess- ment should lead to informed safety planning for the victim and case management for the perpetrator. Good risk evaluations can help ensure the appropriate division and provision of scarce resources to those individuals and families in greatest need. The information gleaned from a violence risk evaluation can be essential for assisting victims and their advocates in relevant civil (e.g., divorce or custody disputes) and criminal proceedings. It can also be essential in protecting profes- sionals at risk of liability (e.g., duty to warn and protect). In sum, it is essential for professionals working with perpetrators and victims to 694-008-1pass-013-r01.indd 275 694-008-1pass-013-r01.indd 275 6/20/2006 8:02:39 PM 6/20/2006 8:02:39 PM