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October 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 2 The Promise of Social-Emotional Learning
Brian Van Brunt and Amy Murphy
10 warning signs that Behavioral Intervention Teams should monitor.
One major challenge to many approaches to reducing school violence is the silo effect, in which information compartmentalized within separate departments prevents a school from adopting a wider, more expansive view of data collection, analysis, and interventions. "Different domains of behavior are never linked together or synthesized to develop a comprehensive picture of the subject of concern, conduct further investigation, identify other warning behaviors, and actively risk-manage the case," as one study characterizes the problem (Meloy et al., 2011, p. 19).
One solution to this fragmentation is to develop multidisciplinary Behavioral Intervention Teams (BIT) that can provide a 360-degree view of at-risk situations and develop better informed, collaborative strategies for intervention. BITs identify, assess, and manage threats and danger in school communities. BITs are not punitive but rather preventative in their approach and are focused on connecting those at risk to resources that will move them from the pathway of violence to social integration and support. These teams typically include 5–10 individuals from counseling services, school resource officers, law enforcement, student discipline, and disability services who meet each week to develop interventions designed to mitigate risks. BITs offer something different from a "one and done" approach to threat and violence risk management by focusing on long-term, collaborative interventions that remain in place until the risk has been reduced. A BIT then works with law enforcement to conduct a violence and risk assessment, which reviews existing risk factors and assesses the likelihood of the student behaving violently in the future. This is different than a mental health assessment, which is primarily about assigning a diagnosis, assessing the level of care (does the student need to be hospitalized?), and developing a treatment plan, such as taking medications, continuing therapy, and reducing mental illness symptoms.
Based on research (Van Brunt, 2012; 2015) of more than 100 incidents of violence on high school and college campuses, we've identified 10 risk factors or warning signs in students that staff and administrators should be on the look-out for and monitor and pass to the BIT. While not an exhaustive list, this is a helpful starting place for teams to better understand the nature of more extreme violence and focus intervention resources. As a word of caution, any singular risk factor should be seen in the context of other factors. In the same way a singular puzzle piece does not show the full picture, any singular risk factor should not be taken out of overall context.
Preventing violence is about early identification, research-informed assessments with a clearly defined purpose, and building connection and increasing resiliency, social connections, and positive influences in a student's life. Behavioral Intervention Teams have been successful in this work and in preventing violence in the higher education setting. It is time to move this process more formally into the K–12 arena.
Desmarais, S. L., Van Dorn, R. A., Johnson, K. L., Grimm, K. J., Douglas, K. S., & Swartz, M. S. (2014). Community violence perpetration and victimization among adults with mental illnesses. American Journal of Public Health, 104(12), 2342–2349.
Meloy, J., Hoffmann, J., Guldimann, A., & James, D. (2011). The role of warning behaviors in threat assessment: An exploration and suggested typology. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 30(3) 256–279.
Van Brunt, B., & Pescara-Kovach, L. (in press). Debunking the myths: Mental illness and mass shootings. Journal of Violence and Gender.
Van Brunt, B. (2012). Ending campus violence: New approaches to prevention. New York: Routledge.
Van Brunt, B. (2015). Harm to others: The assessment and treatment of dangerousness. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Brian Van Brunt (www.brianvanbrunt.com) teaches threat assessment at the University of Toledo and serves as the executive director of the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association. Amy Murphy is an assistant professor of college student development and leadership in higher education at Angelo State University. Follow them on Twitter at @brianvb and @DrAmyLMurphy.
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