ABSTRACT

Organizational influence can have a powerful and sometimes surprising impact on the assessment process. This sphere of influence is especially revealing as it affects individuals’ daily patterns. It affects how they behave toward others and, of course, the persons of concern. It affects how they communicate or fail to do so. It is possible to ascertain their “rituals” and routines. The assessor can establish the patterning of the community they interact within. You can determine core values, as well as symbolic gestures and falsehoods. Added to this is the degree these are shared by those within the environment and obviously the persons of concern. Age, gender, social status and perceived role play a part in the evaluation of this setting, but it is this scene, this situation, this specific environment that is an important application of consideration toward a violence assessment, because it is often one of the largest contributing motivational factors toward the violent act.