Threat and Violence Interventions: The Effective Application of Influence

By James S. Cawood

Threat and Violence Interventions: The Effective Application of Influence evaluates threat and violence risk for various levels of mental health practitioners, law enforcement officers, security professionals, human resource professionals, attorneys, and academics in forensic psychology, sociology, criminology and law. Currently, both empirical and practical literature has focused, to an almost exclusive extent, on the assessment of human behavior and propensity for violence. However, most cases of high concern for potential physical violence arise from individuals who have yet to act in ways the criminal justice system can address. This book broaches the topic, exploring tactics and providing practical, concrete suggestions.

• Focuses on how to influence specific outcomes relating to high risk behaviors
• Analyzes the biological, psychological, sociological, contextual and environmental information learned from risk assessment
• Concentrates on a specific area of analysis and/or techniques

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Oct 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9780128184264

James S. Cawood

Dr. Cawood is President of Factor One which is a California based corporation specializing in violence risk assessment, threat assessment, behavioral analysis, security consulting, and investigations. He has worked in threat assessment, violence risk assessment, behavioral analysis, violence prevention, security consulting, and incident resolution for more than 30 years. He has successfully assessed and managed over 5000 violence related cases for federal and state government agencies, public and private colleges and universities, public and private corporations, and other business entities throughout North America. He has also provided program development and training in violence risk assessment and management for these entities. Dr. Cawood is a Certified Protection Professional(CPP), Certified Threat Manager (CTM), Professional Certified Investigator(PCI), Physical Security Professional(PSP), and Certified Fraud Examiner(CFE). His professional memberships include: Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, ASIS International, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychology-Law Society, CA Association of Licensed Investigators and the Society of Human Resource Management.

Book preview

Threat and Violence Interventions

The Effective Application of Influence

First Edition

James S. Cawood, PH.D., CPP, CTM

Factor One, Inc.

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Author biography

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1: Control

Abstract

2: A limited literature review of influence and persuasion

Abstract

Plato: Dialogues

Aristotle: Rhetoric

Machiavelli: On Principalities, also called The Prince

Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends & Influence People

Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.—Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.—Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Allen R. Cohen and David L. Bradford: Influence Without Authority

Jack Schafer and Marvin Karlins: The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over

Amy Cuddy: Presence

Jonah Berger: The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind

Conclusion

3: Influence versus persuasion: Why influence is the key to violence intervention

Abstract

4: Identifying and assessing risk factors and behavior to support effective intervention

Abstract

5: Practical interventions available for violence-related behavior

Abstract

Interviews

Voluntary medical or mental health evaluations

Cease and desist communications

Administrative actions

Red Flag, restraining, and protective orders

Involuntary medical or mental health evaluations and treatment

Arrest/conviction/incarceration

Probation and parole monitoring/supervision

6: The application of influence in threat and violence interventions

Abstract

Physical staging of the interaction/interview

Plan for various possible interview outcomes

Strategizing engagement with the individual

Possible alternative intervention pathways to resolution

How to interact to provide maximum opportunity for influence

Rapport

Interview structure and style

How to maximize influence for the rest of the possible interventions

Concluding thoughts

Glossary

References/Bibliography

Index

Copyright

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Author biography

Dr. James S. Cawood, Ph.D., CPP, CTM is President of Factor One which is a California-based corporation specializing in threat assessment and management, violence risk assessment, behavioral analysis, security consulting, and investigations. Dr. Cawood has worked in the area of threat and violence risk assessment and management, behavioral analysis, violence prevention, security analysis, and incident resolution for more than 30 years. He has successfully assessed and managed over 5000 violence-related cases for federal and state government agencies, universities and colleges, public and private corporations, and other business entities throughout North America. Dr. Cawood has also provided consultation and training to these same types of organizations on the design and implementation of threat assessment, violence risk assessment, and incident response protocols. This included participation in the development of the P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standards and Training) telecourse for Workplace Violence for California and Arizona law enforcement, California P.O.S.T. development of a Fear and Anger Control telecourse, Association of Threat Assessment Professional’s Risk Assessment Guideline Elements for Violence (R.A.G.E.-V), ASIS International’s Workplace Violence Prevention and Response ANSI Standard, and participation in the development of a threat assessment protocol by the California District Attorney’s Association for use in training judges, District Attorneys, and others in the California justice system. He also has served as an expert witness in dozens of cases involving questions concerning investigative and security issues, including threat and violence risk assessment and management in the workplace.

Dr. Cawood is currently serving on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Threat Assessment and Management (American Psychological Association), as the Vice-Chairman of the Certification Committee which is responsible for the ATAP Certified Threat Manager program, and as a Member of the Professional Certification Board (PCB) for ASIS International. He is the former Association President of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP). He has also served as Association 2nd Vice President and the President of the Northern California Chapter of ATAP, on the ASIS International Foundation Board and was Secretary of the Board, as the Chairman of the Board of the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI) and has served as Chairman of their Legislative Committee, and as a Board member for the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI).

Dr. Cawood is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, holds a Masters degree in Forensic Psychology from Argosy University, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Northcentral University. He has served on the faculties of Golden Gate University, in their Security Management degree program and the University of California, Santa Cruz extension, teaching Threat Management. He is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), Professional Certified Investigator (PCI), Physical Security Professional (PSP), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Security Professional (CSP), Certified Professional Investigator (CPI), Certified International Investigator (CII), and Certified Threat Manager (CTM). He has written articles, book chapters, and books, and published research. These works include publications including Security Management magazine, being the original author of A Plan for Threat Management (Chapter 40) of the Protection of Assets Manual; Chapters 24—Personnel Screening and Chapter 32—Arson, Sabotage, and Bomb Threats in the Accident Prevention Manual for Business & Industry—Security Management volume; Chapter 32—Security for Safety, Health, and Asset Protection: Management Essentials, 2nd Edition; and a coauthored chapter: Threat Management of Stalking Cases in The Psychology of Stalking: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives, published by Academic Press in 1998. He coauthored the book, Violence Assessment and Intervention: The Practitioner’s Handbook, CRC Press 2003 (1st Edition) and 2009 (2nd Edition), with the 3rd Edition published in October of 2019; contributed to Ending Campus Violence: New Approaches to Prevention, by Brian Van Brunt, Routledge, August 2012; contributed a chapter on Threat Assessment and Management to Applied Crime Analysis: A Social Science Approach to Understanding Crime, Criminals, and Victims (Elsevier), Edited by Wayne Petherick, July 2014; and contributed a chapter on Threat and Violence Intervention: Influenced by Victim and Offender Perspectives to The Psychology of Criminal and Antisocial Behavior: Victim and Offender Perspectives (Elsevier), Edited by Wayne Petherick and published in January of 2017.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without a wide range of individuals that have taught me, encouraged me, supported me, and allowed me to continuously learn about this work by providing the opportunity to help them assess and manage violence-related cases over the last 30 plus years. They are too numerous to count or mention so I will say that if you are reading this, know that I am thanking you. Inside his distinguished group, there are several however that I need to mention by name, due to their large contributions to me and the work. The first person to mention is my wife, who has encouraged me; worked with me for decades; and read every paper, chapter, book, thesis, dissertation, and report that I have ever written. She is a brilliant and practical partner, investigator, reviewer, editor, and someone who has made my life an interesting and enjoyable journey. Then there is Steve McIntire, Bill Zimmerman, Dr. Mario Scalora, Dr. Glenn Lipson, Dr. Stephen Hart, Steve Weston, Dr. Brenda Frechette, Rachel Solov, Daniel (Danny) Lizotte, Totti Karpela, and Sue Ann Van Dermyden who have all spent hours and hours with me, sharing their knowledge and providing their insights and support. They have greatly enriched my professional and personal life, hopefully with a great deal more opportunities to come. Thank you one and all.

Introduction

Welcome! I hope that you will find the information and perspective provided here to be of use to you in your work preserving the safety of others from violence and other disturbing, disruptive, and anxiety producing behaviors. My journey to writing this book may look like many of your journeys, in that we start out realizing that we are interested in, and capable of, helping protect people from the harmful behavior of others and decide to pursue a path to make this a substantial part of our life’s work. We then begin to follow a path to gain the training, experiences, and insights that would aid us in doing that more skillfully and productively: a path that is never complete. So, this book is meant for any person, regardless of core competency (e.g., mental health professional, law enforcement personnel, security professional, human resource professional, civil or prosecuting attorney, etc.) who is actively working to reduce acts of concerning and violent behavior.

What is presented here, like all education and training, is curated knowledge, meaning a distillation and presentation of the experiences and insights of others and myself. Therefore it is not meant to be an exhaustive treatise on any topic presented, but is written to introduce, and explore with the reader, information drawn from a variety of disciplines and professional experiences to create a practical framework and methodology to apply to violence interventions. This framework and methodology is focused on the most effective ways to influence a person on an escalating pathway toward further inappropriate or violent behavior to achieve their goal(s) using means other than concerning or violent behavior, or at least to avoid outcomes that they wish to avoid more than reaching their ideal goal. It will be clear that the insights and approaches presented in this book will be different from most, if not all, work that has been written about influencing this type of behavior in the past because of the unique qualities of the context and environment that this book is centered on—the world of threat and violence assessment and management of uncontained people. What will also become clear is that persuasion is a form of influence, but influence does not require persuasion. As we will see in the exploration of the body of knowledge related to influencing human behavior that predates this book, the vast majority of books and other works related to influence involve presenting techniques of persuasion, either focused on influencing behavior in situations of low risk (e.g., selling things, developing relationships, etc.), clinical interventions for different mental instabilities in which it is assumed there will be multiple interactions/sessions to create the influence, or long-term strategies to manipulate or influence others for other reasons (e.g., political control, religious conversion, public health, crime reduction, etc.). This is not the context or environment of threat and violence case management with uncontained and, currently, uncontainable people, which is most often the situation in the caseload that I have and that many threat assessment professionals have. What this book addresses is how to approach and deliver interactions effectively designed to influence a person of concern (POC) to make a conscious choice, which they ideally perceive to be their own personal decision devoid of any significant outside influence, to not pursue more concerning behaviors or physical violence. This will occur in the context that we, the influencers, will have only a single contact or no direct contact with them, while, at the same time, they are free to act, because they are not currently incarcerated or contained in any locked facility and do not currently meet any criteria to be contained (e.g., detained, arrested, etc.) under the rules of their society. This is the very challenging context and environment in which we conduct our work.

This reality leads us to the structure of this book. In Chapter 1 I start with a brief exploration of the concept of control as the central notion or principle of all human behavior, focusing on how this concept underlies behavior that relates to behaviors of concern culminating in physical violence. I have written briefly about this before in an addendum to Chapter 4 of my coauthored book, Violence Assessment and Intervention: The Practitioner’s Handbook (Cawood & Corcoran, 2020). However, in this chapter I will more fully explore why it is the most practical and effective lens to use when assessing concerning behavior and developing a strategy to influence another person’s behavior. It is interesting that the concept of control can be seen as an assumption, precursor, or root of a wide range of theories that can be applied to the assessment and management of the risk of violent behavior.

Chapter 2 will provide a brief literature review that explores the historical, empirical, and commercial literature regarding influence and persuasion. Regarding the historical literature, this chapter will look at the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli. Regarding the empirical literature, we will look at the different approaches that have been taken to explore influence and manipulation, including the nature of rapport and creating lasting immediate change versus eventual lasting change. Regarding the commercial literature, this exploration will range from the work of Dale Carnegie, Robert Cialdini, and Amy Cuddy, as well as other relevant works created over a wide range of the last 100 years, which explore and prescribe methods to influence and persuade, but mostly persuade. Each of the works that will be highlighted is not meant to imply that others are not also relevant, but to illustrate the long standing and wide range of ways that humans have attempted to understand and explain how to influence the behavior of other humans, both for their own selfish purposes, as well as for what they perceived to be the common good of humanity, or at least a particular society.

In Chapter 3, I will focus specifically on influence versus persuasion and why influence works in the context of threat and violence management and persuasion will not only fail, but could increase risk. As a part of this chapter, discussion will involve contrasting the different approaches through illustration to provide the reader some insight into the results of the practical application of these different methodologies, so that the reader has a concrete understanding of the risks and rewards of using one approach versus the other. The information in this chapter will also provide some insight into why using the operational perspective of influence rather than persuasion will also be more effective in all forms of interactions, not just in the management of violence, but most human interactions, violence being only a very extreme form of human interaction.

Chapter 4 will be centered on the identification and use of risk factors during the threat assessment process and how to use this information to provide insight into effective pathways for influence to manage concerning behaviors and physical violence, primarily in an organizational environment, meaning workplaces, including businesses, educational institutions, religious institutions, and public agencies. The reason for primarily using organizational environments is twofold. The first is that these environments experience the broadest contextual range of concerning behaviors from uncontained individuals, including physical violence. The contexts of the concerning behaviors include desired or actual romantic relationships (e.g., unrealized or unrequited love interest, current or former significant other, spouse, etc.), transactional relationships (teacher and student, supervisor and employee, institution and shareholder, business partner, customer, patient, etc.), or societal interactions between organizations and individuals, including those triggered by political, religious, and ecological differences in perspective. The second reason is that cases of threat and violence assessment in these environments most often involve individuals who have not yet exhibited behaviors that would allow for societal processes to immobilize them, even momentarily, through involuntary mental health detainment or arrest, and, who, even if those processes could be used, would be unlikely be kept contained for very long. The third, and more mundane, reason is that I have spent the last 35 years working on the assessment and management of cases involving this wide range of contexts and in this wide range of environments, so it is where I can provide very practical knowledge, insight, and application suggestions from my experience, and the experience of professional colleagues, involving assessment and management challenges using influence.

Chapter 5 will address the range of interventions that are generally available around the world for managing concerning behaviors in threat and violence-related cases where the individuals are not currently detained by an institution. The focus of this chapter is illustrating the considerations that should be explored and addressed before any of these interventions are chosen for implementation, the reasons why an assessor might choose a particular intervention to influence someone, and some of the practical obstacles that may arise during the implementation of the various interventions which are critical to consider to maximize their potential to positively influence the person of concern.

Chapter 6 is devoted to demonstrating, from assessment through intervention, the practical application of the principles of influence with the person of concern. The purpose of this is to bring together all the information provided in the book to give the reader a chance to see how all the various elements of the process might appear in a real case, meaning how case assessment can lead to an influence strategy and then how to deliver that strategy effectively. Presented cases will illustrate this development and implementation for cases where direct contact with the person of concern by the threat assessment professional is deemed appropriate and for cases where direct contact is not advised, therefore only indirect contact through other individuals or processes is advisable.

Now, with some general understanding of the flow of the book and its different general elements, several other important caveats are needed to frame the reading and use of this book. This is a book for practitioners and will be focused on information and application that will benefit the wide range of individuals who are working in the area of threat and violence assessment and management. That means that it is meant to be used by a wide range of professionals who are doing this type of work, including, but not limited to, human resource professionals, security professionals, law enforcement personnel, mental health professionals of all types, legal professionals, and members of threat assessment and management teams in all forms of organizations. Therefore this book will explore, as mentioned before, a wide range of empirical and commercial literature and core concepts, but the focus will be on the practical considerations and application of this information by this wide range of personnel. When specialized concepts and terms are used from each of these professional disciplines, I will provide a brief explanation in the text of what the terms mean related to the ideas being presented with the book, but I have also provided a glossary of some of these terms for reference. Many of the terms and concepts presented have multiple interpretations and explanations that have been provided by other scientists, academics, and practitioners over the years and, though, I will endeavor to provide definitions and explanations in line with the current mainstream of empirical and practical thought, I am not claiming that what is provided here is the only valid interpretation of these concepts. As an example, careful readers will have noted that I have not used the term violence risk assessment in this introduction and you might note that throughout the book I will not use that terminology to describe what I am addressing. The reason for this is because this book is meant to deal with uncontained individuals in a broad range of contexts and environments which does not require assessment of the risk level for violence conducted by a mental health professional, at the request or direction of a court or other regulatory body, which is the current generally accepted definition of what constitutes a violence risk assessment (Meloy, Hart, & Hoffman, 2014; Melton et al., 2018). By using the terms threat assessment and/or violence assessment, I am opening up the assessment process to include a wider range of practitioners, in a wide range of environments, with a broad range of reasons to conduct assessments, even though all threat or violence assessment and management processes, including violence risk assessments, have, as one of their goals, understanding the level of risk for violence that an individual may currently present.

Finally, while you are reading this book, I want you to consider that, unlike many other books with a professional focus that you may have read, you may find the value of this book goes beyond the boundaries of your avocation or professional occupation. You may find that its value expands into providing insights and applications of influence in a wide variety of professional and personal interactions. Who does not want to have the ability to positively interact with, and positively influence all the people who we come in contact with, an ability that can provide us with a higher quality of life experience in general? The main principle this book focuses on is understanding the perspective of the people we are interacting with and using that understanding of their perspective to explore what they want and what they are willing to do to achieve their goal(s). If we did that in all aspects of our lives, learning to inquire and listen first, before making suggestions or directing others, not trying to win the interactions, but focused on creating mutual and, hopefully, equal, benefits for all parties, our lives would be less contentious, less stressful, more productive, and more enjoyable. The added benefit of using this methodology in all aspects of life is that it will become the way that you naturally process the world around you and because you are practicing it all the time, you have the opportunity to become truly proficient. It will be a perspective that you will just have, not one that you need to consciously reacquire during a professional encounter. This will allow you to focus on the nuance of the individual case elements, rather than background processes, thus leading to better outcomes. Therefore I encourage you to consider practicing what you learn from this book in all aspects of your life, not just your professional life, to enhance all of your relationships and interactions with others.

References

Cawood J.S., Corcoran M.H. Violence assessment and intervention: The practitioner's handbook. 3rd ed. London: Taylor & Francis; 2020.

Meloy J.R., Hart S.D., Hoffman J. Threat assessment and threat management. In: Meloy J.R., Hoffman J., eds. International handbook of threat assessment. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2014:3–17.

Melton G.B., Petrila J., Poythress N.G., Slobogin C., Otto R.K., Mossman D. Psychological evaluations for the courts: A handbook for mental health professionals and lawyers. 4th ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press; 2018.

1: Control

Abstract

This chapter explores the concept of control as being the unifying process that underpins all human emotions, behaviors, and institutions. It does this by approaching this process reviewing the biological, psychological, sociological, contextual, and environmental aspects of human existence and illustrating how each of these aspects is anchored in the central human focus on needing and maintaining control. The illustrations used tie the material back to human violence and how using the lens of control to few human behaviors provides a simple and effective means to craft effective violence intervention strategies to increase safety.

Keywords

Control; Biological; Psychological; Sociological; Contextual; Environmental; Perception; Control vector analysis

Many theories and explanations have been developed and documented throughout the course of human history regarding what influences human beings to act in particular ways in various contexts. As an example, many religions would suggest that human actions, particularly negative human actions, are the result of the lack of connection with the Devine, a God, or gods, such as the Judeo-Christian story of Adam and Eve falling from grace, meaning an unobstructed relationship with God, into sin, after they bit the apple which demonstrated defiance of God’s rules and the exercise of free will. Another example is the Taoist belief that once humans began creating things and focusing on the material world humans lost their connection with the Way. Philosophers discuss the underlying nature of humans