Predicting violence by serious wife assaulters

Assessing violence risk among wife assaulters is receiving increasing atten tion in the literature, but risk assessment tools specifically for this pop ulation are just beginning to be developed. The literature on wife assaulte rs suggests the importance of antisocial personality and behavior The prese nt study examines psychopathy; the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG), a validated actuarial risk assessment too[for violent recidivism; and motives thought to be related to wife assault, in predicting violent recidivism am ong 88 men with a history of serious wife assault. Violent recidivism was l ower among wife assaulters (24%) than among a larger sample of generally vi olent offenders (44%). Score on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised was a good predictor of subsequent violence, r = .35, and score on the VRAG,vas a significantly better predictor; r = .42, area under the curve (AUC) = .7 5. The prospects for predicting lethal wife assault and violence against sp ecific victims are discussed.