Risk and Protection Factors for Violence Perpetration
An Ecological Approach
Professor Stan Gilmour's comprehensive literature review examines the complex interplay of factors that influence violence perpetration through an ecological framework. This research adopts a multi-layered approach to understanding violence as emerging from interactions across individual, relationship, community, and societal levels.
Key Insights
The review introduces the powerful "combination lock analogy" – violence rarely stems from a single risk factor, but rather from a precise alignment of multiple vulnerabilities. When these factors align in sequence, the metaphorical safe "bursts open", releasing destructive potential. This model helps explain seemingly disproportionate reactions where someone appears to go "from 0-100 in a split second" – they were likely already at a heightened pressure threshold due to accumulated stressors.
Multi-Level Risk Factors
- Individual: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), poor impulse control, substance misuse
- Relationship: Exposure to family violence, association with delinquent peers, poor parent-child attachment
- Community: Neighbourhood disadvantage, community violence exposure, limited service access
- Societal: Income inequality, cultural norms supporting violence, insufficient legal sanctions
Protective Factors That Buffer Against Violence
- Individual: Well-developed empathy, positive self-concept, executive function skills
- Relationship: Secure attachments, parental supervision, positive peer influences
- Community: Strong social cohesion, access to quality services, community connectedness
- Societal: Strong legislative frameworks, reduced poverty/inequality, investment in welfare
The Public Health Approach
The research emphasises shifting from reactive harm identification to proactive risk identification. This preventative approach represents not just a procedural change but a fundamental reorientation of safeguarding philosophy – from waiting for crises to recognising when risk combinations are forming.
Multiagency collaboration is vital in creating integrated early warning systems. When education, health, social care, housing, and criminal justice agencies share their unique perspectives, patterns of risk can emerge that might remain invisible to any single agency.
The 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act's Serious Violence Duty provides legislative support for this collaborative approach, requiring specified authorities to conduct evidence-based strategic needs assessments and develop multi-agency violence prevention strategies.
Implications for Practice
This ecological understanding highlights the importance of comprehensive interventions that address multiple levels simultaneously. The most effective violence prevention strategies will combine individual-focused approaches with relationship, community, and societal-level interventions.
Special attention to neurodiversity and disability within this framework reveals a nuanced picture, challenging stereotypes while acknowledging unique vulnerabilities and support needs.
For the full literature review on Risk and Protection Factors for Violence Perpetration: An Ecological Model, click here
The work presented in this report represents a pivotal step towards understanding and addressing one of society's most complex challenges: violence perpetration. As we navigate increasingly complex social landscapes, the need for evidence-based approaches to violence prevention has never been more urgent.
At Oxon Advisory, we believe that effective prevention requires a fundamental shift in perspective—moving from reactive responses to proactive identification of risk factors across multiple domains of human experience. This ecological approach acknowledges that violence rarely emerges from a single cause, but rather from a complex interplay of individual, relational, community, and societal factors that combine in unique configurations for each person.
This report distils decades of research into a practical framework for understanding both risk and protective factors. It offers not just analysis, but a roadmap for practitioners, policymakers, and communities seeking to create safer environments through targeted, multi-level interventions.
The combination lock analogy presented herein provides a powerful conceptual tool for understanding why traditional approaches to violence prevention often fall short. By recognising that risk factors must align in specific sequences to trigger violent behaviour - and that protective factors can disrupt these sequences - we open new avenues for early intervention and prevention.
Our hope is that this research will catalyse collaborative efforts across disciplines and agencies, fostering a shared commitment to preventing harm before it occurs rather than merely responding to its aftermath.
"The most effective violence prevention isn't about waiting for someone's emotional safe to explode, but recognising when its combination is being dialled in. This shift from harm identification to risk identification represents not just a procedural change but a fundamental reorientation of our safeguarding philosophy - one that could transform how we protect our most vulnerable and create truly safe communities."
Professor Stan Gilmour KPM FRSA
Chief Executive Officer, Oxon Advisory
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