It is a common practice in civilian communities to address domestic abuse cases through a risk assessment and criminal framework lens. The focus being the victim’s immediate safety with consideration of misdemeanor or felony laws that may have been violated. In the military, such cases are assigned an Incident Severity Index. Per the Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence 2003 Report (2003, pg. 133), the index was introduced by the Department of Defense (DOD) in 1997. It was initially a component of the Definitions of Terms for Child and Spouse Abuse Incident Reports. Developed as a uniform method of reporting physical abuse to the Central Registry Joint Forces Database. The DOD policy memorandum per the Defense Task Force (2003, pg. 133-134)
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Yielding criticism from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), per Stamm (2009, pg. 330) that the severity index, as defined was not aligned with current “characterizations of domestic violence.” Jones (2011, pg. 150) in describing the Incident Severity Index states, “this Index is extremely inconsistent with the current views and emerging research on IPV” (Intimate Partner Violence). Strangulation in non-military populations is treated as a very serious incident per CDC and NCADV criteria. Furthermore, there could be criminal charges up to and including a felony conviction, depending on the circumstances and jurisdiction. Per Jones (2011, pg. 150) and the Incident Severity Index, as interpreted, a strangulation case that did not result in a major physical injury requiring an overnight hospital stay would not be reported as severe. It may, however, reach the level of mild or moderate. Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence 2003 Report (2003, pg. 136) The three classifications “are simply not working” per Stramm (2009, pg. …show more content…
Nor does it make distinctions regarding any of the other forms of domestic abuse. Confounding a comparison of the military to non-military prevalence rates and severity of injury reporting (Jones, 2011). By comparison, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) prevalence data includes emotional and verbal abuse which would greatly increase the military rates if included. In 2014 the Hotline’s military callers reported Emotional/Verbal abuse in 97% of the cases and Physical abuse in 73% (NDVH, 2014, pg.1). Based on this data alone, there would be an immediate spike of approximately 25% if the criteria were being recorded and reported in a like
Yielding criticism from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), per Stamm (2009, pg. 330) that the severity index, as defined was not aligned with current “characterizations of domestic violence.” Jones (2011, pg. 150) in describing the Incident Severity Index states, “this Index is extremely inconsistent with the current views and emerging research on IPV” (Intimate Partner Violence). Strangulation in non-military populations is treated as a very serious incident per CDC and NCADV criteria. Furthermore, there could be criminal charges up to and including a felony conviction, depending on the circumstances and jurisdiction. Per Jones (2011, pg. 150) and the Incident Severity Index, as interpreted, a strangulation case that did not result in a major physical injury requiring an overnight hospital stay would not be reported as severe. It may, however, reach the level of mild or moderate. Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence 2003 Report (2003, pg. 136) The three classifications “are simply not working” per Stramm (2009, pg. …show more content…
Nor does it make distinctions regarding any of the other forms of domestic abuse. Confounding a comparison of the military to non-military prevalence rates and severity of injury reporting (Jones, 2011). By comparison, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) prevalence data includes emotional and verbal abuse which would greatly increase the military rates if included. In 2014 the Hotline’s military callers reported Emotional/Verbal abuse in 97% of the cases and Physical abuse in 73% (NDVH, 2014, pg.1). Based on this data alone, there would be an immediate spike of approximately 25% if the criteria were being recorded and reported in a like