Key Concepts and
Guidelines for
Threat Assessment
Ailleth V. Tom, MSW
Organization Facilitator
School Mental Health
Student Health & Human Services
Adapted from:
“Key Concepts in Threat Assessment
and Management “
Developed by:
J. Kevin Cameron, M.Sc., R.S.W., B.C.E.T.S., B.C.S.C.R.
Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response
A Division of North American Center for Crisis Response Inc.
&
Los Angeles Unified School District
“Certified Trainers”
2008
Today’s Objectives
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Understand the difference between threat
assessment and risk assessment
Understand the key factors to consider when
assessing risk
Understand the threat assessment process at
a school site, using case studies
Threat Assessment
Threat Assessment has been referred to as
the “missing link” in violence prevention. It
is the process of deliberately trying to
connect the dots or data that paints the
picture that someone is moving on a
pathway towards serious violence before
the violent act occurs.
Threat Assessment vs. Risk Assessment
The Violence Threat/Risk Assessment (VTRA)
Model considers threat assessment and risk
assessment to be on the same continuum with
threat assessment being “data collection
(minutes to hours) and immediate risk reducing
intervention” and risk assessment being “more
comprehensive risk evaluation (days to weeks)
and longer-term treatment planning”.
Which is the Worst Incident of
School Violence in US History?
A.Virginia Tech
B.Columbine
C.University of Texas
D.Red Lake High School
E.Bath Consolidated
Bath Consolidated School
Bath, Michigan
May 18, 1927
45 dead (including Kehoe); 58 injured
. snaps...
No one just
“Serious violence is an evolutionary process:
no one just snaps!”
Even though some rare acts of serious school
violence are not pre-planned, arriving at the
point of committing the act is still an
evolutionary process.
“Justification”
We must feel justified in order to harm/kill.
The process of justification is
necessary to the act of violence.
“Human Target Selection”
This variable refers to who was currently
threatened as well has who have been
the targets of violence or threats of
violence in the past. Human target
selection is influenced by the justification
process.
“Site Selection”
This variable refers to where the threat
was made and/or where the incident is
intended to occur, as well as history of
site selection. Teams must distinguish
between emotionally determined sites
versus sites of opportunity.
“Parallel Process”
When a behavior is motivated because of
another similar circumstance that has
occurred in the past.
Overreaction vs. Under Reaction
“The biggest problem in the aftermath of
high-profile school violence was originally
thought to be overreacting but experience
dictates that the biggest problem is
actually under reaction to often blatant
indicators that a student is moving on a
pathway to serious violence”.
Red Lake High School
Red Lake Minnesota
March 21, 2005
10 dead (including Weise, his paternal grandfather and his
girlfriend); 5 wounded
“The pathway to serious violence is
not a straight line. Instead, it is
met with peaks and valleys.”
Peaks and Valleys
The Evolutionary Pathway
to Violence:
Concepts
Child Development and Violence
The best predictor of future behavior is past
behavior.
Attachment serves as the core determinant in
the development of morally restrained
socialization
Child development is only one variable in
understanding threat related, threat making,
or high profile violent behaviors.
University of Texas
Austin, Texas
August 1, 1966
16 dead (including Whitman’s mother and wife); 32 wounded
Violence Potential of the Psychopath
Not all psychopathic individuals are violent
Attachment, proximity seeking, is the fundamental
purpose of violence.
Violence, among many other antisocial behaviors,
becomes a learned compensation for the inability to
obtain whatever it is the psychopathic individual
wants.
“Empty Vessels”
In many cases of serious youth violence
the student did not have a “healthy
connection” with a “mature adult”.
When this is the case, the question we ask
in Threat Assessment is:
“then what are they filling themselves with”?
“Empty Vessel”
Violent ideation
Violent books
Violent movies
Violent video games
Violent internet searches
Violent music
Violent peers, etc.
“Empty Vessels”
Have eyes to see things we do not see.
We often find evidence of planning in two key areas:
1) The locker at school (as well as, backpack,
desk, car)
2) The bedroom at home referred to as the
“bedroom dynamic”.
FLUIDITY
The relationship between the suicidal
and homicidal domains.
Columbine High School
Columbine, Colorado
April 20, 1999
Eric Harris
Dylan Klebold
15 dead (including Harris & Klebold); 24 wounded
The Unidimensional Assessment
The plague of the
Violence Threat/Risk Assessment Field
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Blacksburg, Virginia
April 16, 2007
33 dead (including Cho); 23 wounded
Prior Knowledge of Potential School
Based Violence:
Information Students Learn May Prevent
a Targeted Attack
Safe School Initiative Findings
US Secret Service & US Department of Education
Key Findings
1.
2.
3.
4.
Incidents of targeted school violence are rarely
sudden, impulsive acts.
Prior to most incidents, other people knew about
the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
There is no accurate or useful “profile” of students
who engage in targeted school violence.
Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to
the incident, that caused concern or indicated a
need for help.
Factors to consider
when assessing risk:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Frequency / Intensity / Recency
Dehumanization
Evolution towards violence
Justification
System dynamics
Peer dynamics
Human Target Selection
Site Selection
At LAUSD…
1. Guidelines for Threat Assessment
(TA) and Management Process on
www.lausd.net
2. TA Team comprised of –
Administrator, Mental Health Professional,
Law Enforcement
Every Adult on Campus
Plays An Important Role
•
Two predictive factors that make kids
getting into trouble very unlikely• Kids feel connected at home
• Kids feel connected at school
Organizing for Threat
Assessment & Management
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Threats against individuals or groups must be
taken seriously
Investigate to determine level of danger
Systematic/orderly assessment and evaluation
done as quickly as possible by school (TA/MT)
Work closely with LD Operations Coordinator
Contact School Police
Guidelines for Action
Student makes a threat against the life of another
student or staff (verbal/written). Staff notifies the
Site Administrator/Designee
• Administrator assesses referral for immediate action
& convenes the school site (TA/MT)
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School Admin.
Mental Health professional
School police
Administrator notifies their LD
Operations Coordinator
The Process-Convene
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Team members come together
Identify specific threat & determine impact
on school.
Notify LD5 Operations Coordinator
The Process-Document
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Document all steps taken.
Strict confidentiality about student
information should be kept among team
members & appropriate District staff
The Process-Assess
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Review warning signs and background
information.
Interview witnesses, staff, peers, etc.
DO ALL THIS BEFORE CONTACTING THE
PARENT
The Process-Risk Assessment
1.
2.
3.
Is the individual moving on a path towards
violent action?
Is there evidence to suggest movement from
thought to action?
What can be done to control the progression
of the threat?
Make a Team Recommendation
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No one person should make a decision
alone.
Implement an intervention plan.
Monitor progress toward reestablishing
school safety.
Reconvene team when necessary.
Decisions made and actions taken
should result in:
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Contact with and/or apprehension of person/s
who initiated the threat.
Warning and protection for the targeted
victim(s) of the threat.
Disciplinary action, if needed.
Continuation of a safe school environment.
Review-Assessing
and Managing Threats
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Develop a course of action or strategy to
control the threat.
Take appropriate action to maintain the safety
of the school.
Recommend appropriate interventions with
the student who threatens.
Case Scenario
Teacher notifies administrator that Paul, a 6th
grade student in her class reported another
student showed a knife to Paul and other
classmates in the bathroom.
Case Scenario #2
Student who brought knife is identified as
Michael.
Michael’s backpack is searched, a knife is not
found. He denies bringing knife to school.
Case Scenario #3
School police are contacted. They speak to
Michael. They go to family home and find the
knife-a utility knife, is on the grandmother’s
sewing machine.
Case Scenario #4
Threat assessment team meeting convened.
Plan of action developed.
Take appropriate action to maintain the safety
of the school.
Recommend appropriate interventions with
Michael who brought knife to school.
Case Study for High Schools
Steve is a 15 year old student in the 10th grade. He is in a
special day class and his parents are monolingual Vietnamese
speaking. Steve lives with mother and father and has an older
sister who attends college. Mother stays at home and father
works days and nights.
During 2nd period, a classmate reports that he saw Steve had a
“hit list” in his binder. The classmate notices that his name is
on the list, as well as those of a few other classmates,
including a name he does not recognize. The classmate
mentions this to the teacher after class. At the end of the
day, the teacher puts a note in the Assistant Principal’s
mailbox regarding Steve and the hit list.
Case Study for HS continued…
The next morning, the Assistant Principal finds the note from the
teacher and when he attempts to summons Steve, the AP
finds out he is absent. Upon speaking with the teacher, the
AP finds out that the teacher did not see the hit list and only
reported what she heard from the student.
Other information known about Steve via school records is the
following:
Steve’s parents were conferenced twice in 9th grade and
provided with information about inhalant abuse. The first
time, he had Axe spray in his possession and the second time,
he was seen running from a group of boys who were caught
inhaling air freshener.
Case Study for HS continued…
Steve has been suspended two times since he
started the ninth grade. The first suspension
was for fighting and the second was for
threatening a TA in his class by saying “Watch
your back.”
What are the next steps? Who should be
involved?
Case Study for Middle Schools
Kathy is a 12 year old student in the 7th grade.
Her grades dropped significantly by the end of
the 6th grade from B’s to D’s and F’s. She
lives with her mother and maternal
grandmother and has an older brother in high
school and two younger sisters. Her parents
were divorced when she was in the 3rd grade.
Case Study for MS continued…
Kathy missed a couple of weeks of school last year
after being taunted and hit in the girls’ bathroom by
three classmates. Kathy has math class with two of
the three girls who continue to bother her in class.
Although Kathy has reported this to the teacher, the
girls continue to bother her. During class today, the
math teacher reprimanded her for not being on task
and under her breath, Kathy uttered, “I’m gonna get
you.”
Case Study for MS continued…
Other information known about Kathy:
Later that day, Kathy submits her story and drawing
in English class. Her drawing shows three girls,
two are bleeding, the other is smiling, and an
adult by a chalk board is screaming. The teacher
puts the drawing in the Dean’s mailbox with a
note expressing concern.
What are the next steps? Who should be involved?
Case Study for Elementary
Schools
On Monday morning, Mrs. A, parent of a third grade Latina
female student, Kathy A., reports to Kathy’s teacher that
Kathy told her that Steve, 5th grader, told her he was going
to shoot her and her 10 year old brother, Matthew, with a
gun. Kathy told her mother that Steve said he was going to
shoot her and her brother because he (Matthew) is a
“crybaby”. This occurred after school on Friday.
Steve is a 10 year old Latino male student in the 5th grade. He
has a history of escalating, defiant and angry behavior. He
also has a history of multiple school placements. Steve lives
with his mother and an older sister who attends high school.
Case Study ES continued…
Other Known Information:
Steve has low academic skills and poor work habits.
There have been reports of marijuana use by Steve made to
school personnel.
There is known history of Steve bullying Matthew since last year.
There has been difficulty in communicating with mom.
Group Discussion:
What initial steps should be taken?
Who should be involved?
Case Study #2 for Elementary
Schools
An English-speaking Korean mother of two female students, one
pre-k and the other in 3rd grade, comes to the school office
on a regular basis to talk with the male principal.
On occasions when the principal is not available, the mother is
aggressive and belligerent to the office staff. She has also
called the office numerous times to ask for the principal and
accuses the staff of preventing her from talking to him.
This particular morning, the mother comes into the office
demanding to see the principal. When the office manager
comes to the front desk and informs her that he is not
available, the mother ignores her and storms into the
principal’s office, muttering, “Someone’s going to pay for
this!”
Case Study #2 continued…
Group Discussion:
What initial steps should be taken?
Who should be involved?