No Cover Image

Journal article 45 views 2 downloads

The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse

Karen M. Caulfield, Nicola Gray Orcid Logo, Andrew Edwards, Robert J. Snowden Orcid Logo

Forensic Sciences, Volume: 5, Issue: 4, Start page: 64

Swansea University Author: Nicola Gray Orcid Logo

  • 71184.VOR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

    Download (236.92KB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.3390/forensicsci5040064

Abstract

Background: The DASH risk assessment scheme is used across the UK to identify and manage instances of domestic abuse. Recent studies have questioned whether the scheme can identify offenders who go on to commit further acts of domestic abuse, in particular serious violence, and therefore whether it...

Full description

Published in: Forensic Sciences
ISSN: 2673-6756
Published: MDPI AG 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71184
first_indexed 2026-01-03T12:52:56Z
last_indexed 2026-02-07T05:28:39Z
id cronfa71184
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-02-06T10:24:06.4261402</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>71184</id><entry>2026-01-03</entry><title>The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>d3dfb6fa4b6e057dd587f5e9f28a581f</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-3849-8118</ORCID><firstname>Nicola</firstname><surname>Gray</surname><name>Nicola Gray</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-01-03</date><deptcode>PSYS</deptcode><abstract>Background: The DASH risk assessment scheme is used across the UK to identify and manage instances of domestic abuse. Recent studies have questioned whether the scheme can identify offenders who go on to commit further acts of domestic abuse, in particular serious violence, and therefore whether it is fit for purpose. Methods: We therefore tested the ability of the DASH to predict future instances of deadly or persistent domestic abuse. From a database of &#x2248;25,000 incidents, we compared DASH assessments which preceded an incident of &#x201C;deadly violence&#x201D; or was the first in a series of &#x201C;persistent abuse&#x201D;. These groups were compared to a control group where there was no further incident of domestic abuse. Results: The proportion of &#x201C;high-risk&#x201D; stratifications was approximately 5 times higher in the deadly violence group compared to the control group. Prediction accuracy assessed via signal detection theory showed the DASH was a moderate predictor of deadly violence (AUC = 0.67). The DASH also showed predictive accuracy in identifying persistent offenders (AUC = 0.62). While these results are encouraging and are similar in efficacy to other risk assessment schemes used in the prediction of domestic violence, the results identified that many individual items of the DASH were not predictive. The inclusion of non-predictive items within the DASH adds &#x201C;noise&#x201D; and error into the risk evaluation. The development of a shortened version of the DASH, removing these ineffectual items, was shown to have even higher predictive value for deadly violence (AUC = 0.80). Conclusions: We stress, however, that the role of risk assessment is not to predict violence per se, but to prevent violence via the accurate identification of dangerous perpetrators and via effective intervention and safeguarding of victims. Despite this, research such as this is imperative to evaluate if the risk assessment schemes selected by practitioners and police are fit for purpose.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Forensic Sciences</journal><volume>5</volume><journalNumber>4</journalNumber><paginationStart>64</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>MDPI AG</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic>2673-6756</issnElectronic><keywords>domestic abuse; DASH; risk assessment</keywords><publishedDay>21</publishedDay><publishedMonth>11</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-11-21</publishedDate><doi>10.3390/forensicsci5040064</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Psychology School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>PSYS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Another institution paid the OA fee</apcterm><funders>K.M.C. was funded by the Dyfed-Powys Domestic Abuse Gold Group and Swansea University.</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-02-06T10:24:06.4261402</lastEdited><Created>2026-01-03T12:44:50.8138346</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Psychology</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Karen M.</firstname><surname>Caulfield</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Nicola</firstname><surname>Gray</surname><orcid>0000-0003-3849-8118</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Andrew</firstname><surname>Edwards</surname><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Robert J.</firstname><surname>Snowden</surname><orcid>0000-0001-9900-480x</orcid><order>4</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>71184__36196__cd5ca05894f340b4b27e961454853b73.pdf</filename><originalFilename>71184.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2026-02-06T10:20:22.5752210</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>242602</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2026-02-06T10:24:06.4261402 v2 71184 2026-01-03 The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse d3dfb6fa4b6e057dd587f5e9f28a581f 0000-0003-3849-8118 Nicola Gray Nicola Gray true false 2026-01-03 PSYS Background: The DASH risk assessment scheme is used across the UK to identify and manage instances of domestic abuse. Recent studies have questioned whether the scheme can identify offenders who go on to commit further acts of domestic abuse, in particular serious violence, and therefore whether it is fit for purpose. Methods: We therefore tested the ability of the DASH to predict future instances of deadly or persistent domestic abuse. From a database of ≈25,000 incidents, we compared DASH assessments which preceded an incident of “deadly violence” or was the first in a series of “persistent abuse”. These groups were compared to a control group where there was no further incident of domestic abuse. Results: The proportion of “high-risk” stratifications was approximately 5 times higher in the deadly violence group compared to the control group. Prediction accuracy assessed via signal detection theory showed the DASH was a moderate predictor of deadly violence (AUC = 0.67). The DASH also showed predictive accuracy in identifying persistent offenders (AUC = 0.62). While these results are encouraging and are similar in efficacy to other risk assessment schemes used in the prediction of domestic violence, the results identified that many individual items of the DASH were not predictive. The inclusion of non-predictive items within the DASH adds “noise” and error into the risk evaluation. The development of a shortened version of the DASH, removing these ineffectual items, was shown to have even higher predictive value for deadly violence (AUC = 0.80). Conclusions: We stress, however, that the role of risk assessment is not to predict violence per se, but to prevent violence via the accurate identification of dangerous perpetrators and via effective intervention and safeguarding of victims. Despite this, research such as this is imperative to evaluate if the risk assessment schemes selected by practitioners and police are fit for purpose. Journal Article Forensic Sciences 5 4 64 MDPI AG 2673-6756 domestic abuse; DASH; risk assessment 21 11 2025 2025-11-21 10.3390/forensicsci5040064 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee K.M.C. was funded by the Dyfed-Powys Domestic Abuse Gold Group and Swansea University. 2026-02-06T10:24:06.4261402 2026-01-03T12:44:50.8138346 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Karen M. Caulfield 1 Nicola Gray 0000-0003-3849-8118 2 Andrew Edwards 3 Robert J. Snowden 0000-0001-9900-480x 4 71184__36196__cd5ca05894f340b4b27e961454853b73.pdf 71184.VOR.pdf 2026-02-06T10:20:22.5752210 Output 242602 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
spellingShingle The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
Nicola Gray
title_short The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
title_full The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
title_fullStr The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
title_full_unstemmed The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
title_sort The Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Instrument in Predicting Deadly or Persistent Domestic Abuse
author_id_str_mv d3dfb6fa4b6e057dd587f5e9f28a581f
author_id_fullname_str_mv d3dfb6fa4b6e057dd587f5e9f28a581f_***_Nicola Gray
author Nicola Gray
author2 Karen M. Caulfield
Nicola Gray
Andrew Edwards
Robert J. Snowden
format Journal article
container_title Forensic Sciences
container_volume 5
container_issue 4
container_start_page 64
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2673-6756
doi_str_mv 10.3390/forensicsci5040064
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Background: The DASH risk assessment scheme is used across the UK to identify and manage instances of domestic abuse. Recent studies have questioned whether the scheme can identify offenders who go on to commit further acts of domestic abuse, in particular serious violence, and therefore whether it is fit for purpose. Methods: We therefore tested the ability of the DASH to predict future instances of deadly or persistent domestic abuse. From a database of ≈25,000 incidents, we compared DASH assessments which preceded an incident of “deadly violence” or was the first in a series of “persistent abuse”. These groups were compared to a control group where there was no further incident of domestic abuse. Results: The proportion of “high-risk” stratifications was approximately 5 times higher in the deadly violence group compared to the control group. Prediction accuracy assessed via signal detection theory showed the DASH was a moderate predictor of deadly violence (AUC = 0.67). The DASH also showed predictive accuracy in identifying persistent offenders (AUC = 0.62). While these results are encouraging and are similar in efficacy to other risk assessment schemes used in the prediction of domestic violence, the results identified that many individual items of the DASH were not predictive. The inclusion of non-predictive items within the DASH adds “noise” and error into the risk evaluation. The development of a shortened version of the DASH, removing these ineffectual items, was shown to have even higher predictive value for deadly violence (AUC = 0.80). Conclusions: We stress, however, that the role of risk assessment is not to predict violence per se, but to prevent violence via the accurate identification of dangerous perpetrators and via effective intervention and safeguarding of victims. Despite this, research such as this is imperative to evaluate if the risk assessment schemes selected by practitioners and police are fit for purpose.
published_date 2025-11-21T05:34:48Z
_version_ 1856896487482458112
score 11.096068

Similar Items