Domestic Violence Fatality Review: The State of the Art

Domestic violence fatality review involves the identification and analysis of homicides, suicides, other deaths, and sometimes near deaths caused by, related to, or somehow traceable to domestic violence. Teams develop preventive interventions. They formed in the last quarter century in functioning democracies including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Portugal with the public concern and state and community infrastructure to confront these cases. Communities ideally create an expert review team from an eclectic array of individual experts that handle domestic violence cases. In the interests of ensuring the representation of agencies, organizations, and community stakeholders, review philosophies call for accountability but do not seek to blame and shame individuals within agencies and community organizations for the loss of life. Rather, teams explore the flow of cases through complex systems, identify gaps in service, and suggest solutions. Reviews vary considerably across countries. Most reviewers build timelines; explore potential warning signs; examine the involvement of agencies, organizations, community stakeholders, family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors; and assess the degree of communication, coordination, and collaboration among these entities. Fatality review therefore comprises a potent example of a coordinated community response to domestic violence. The law governing fatality review varies across countries and jurisdictions. Generally, fatality review law prescribes what information teams may examine and how they must protect that information. Review outcomes include a heightening of coordinated community responses and the development of many specific potentially preventive interventions. Significantly, reviews raise new questions about case handling.