ABSTRACT
While most of the focus of the assessment process often appears to be dealing with instigators, their backgrounds and processes, it is equally important to understand the active involvement of the victims. In law enforcement, for example, the importance of this concept is brought to bear when victims who report a crime wish to remain anonymous are told nothing can be done in their case because no victim-no crime. In the assessment process, unless there is an understanding of the relationship of victims to instigators, a critical component toward understanding the threat potential as well as possible resolutions will be overlooked. It is the forensic model of understanding the victims’ physical, emotional and psychological components and then correlating them to the instigators’ physical, emotional and psychological elements as they relate to victims within a specific environment that allows the assessor a more narrow range of material for consideration to better determine a threat’s true potential for violence. Progression through this chapter may demonstrate how this understanding often develops and, by assessing each element, a more focused and complete picture can be achieved.
