Domestic violence fatality review teams: An interprofessional model to reduce deaths

Abstract

In an effort to reduce injuries and prevent deaths from violence, interprofessional domestic violence fatality review teams (DVFRT) have developed across the United States and globally to study factors that contribute to intimate partner injury and deaths. Drawing upon knowledge from the disciplines of health, education, criminal justice, social services, and policy, these teams review and analyze domestic violence homicide cases to uncover basic knowledge about causes, factors that increase or decrease the risk for death and injury, and specific ways to prevent further injury and death. Through interprofessional collective recommendations and cooperative actions, these teams are developing promising practices and systems' changes that offer better services, learning, and interventions to reduce injury and death from domestic violence.

Keywords:

• Domestic violence
• fatality review
• homicide
• intimate partner violence
• abuse
• interprofessional

Notes

1. The Caitlin Wooten case history in Box 1 was written by the first author (JW) from the sources cited. Only public information sources were used because as a DVFRB member JW is bound by a confidentiality agreement not to divulge individual case data. This case prompted national and new state bond bail reform after kidnappings. The questions listed in Box 2 are typical of those asked by DVFRTs.

2. This paper was accepted and presented at the 11th World Congress on Public Health and the 8th Brazilian Congress on Collective Health, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 22–25, 2006.