Mapping Perpetrators’ Patterns During the Pandemic
By Katherine Cloutier, Senior Federal Family Violence Prevention Program Specialist at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Sara McGirr, Manager of the Office on Gender, Sexuality & Violence at the MPHI
In a recent post, we shared the creative and strategic ways that the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) staff and co-located domestic violence (DV) advocates are supporting their clients during the COVID-19 crisis. To do so, ODHS staff and advocates are leaning heavily on Safe & Together tools. They are validating survivors’ strengths and acknowledging survivors’ safety planning efforts—all of this in the face of having to shelter with their abusive partner and children. But staff and advocates didn’t stop there. In addition to partnering with survivors, ODHS staff and advocates have been mapping perpetrators’ patterns of behavior. “Perpetrator pattern mapping has been a great tool for advocates who are working with someone who is minimizing what’s happening in the home quite a bit,” said D. Howden, Supervisor of Community Co-Located Advocates for the Center for Hope & Safety.
D. explained that survivors often use “minimization” as a safety measure. This is especially true during times of crisis. In crisis, access to resources is often limited. The survivor recognizes they may be sheltering with their perpetrator for the foreseeable future and has to plan accordingly. “Having someone come to the full realization of the danger they’re inside of, while they’re stuck inside of it, is not trauma-informed at the moment.”
Mapping Perpetrators’ Patterns as an Assessment Tool
ODHS staff and advocates are creatively using Safe & Together’s Perpetrator Pattern Mapping Tool, which provides a structured set of questions to quickly assess and document a perpetrator’s pattern of behavior. It also helps better identify the impact this has on the children and the family’s functioning. ODHS staff and advocates know that the recognition of perpetrator patterns is key for case documentation and safety planning. Working separately but in conjunction with one another, advocates are using these tools to develop effective safety plans with survivors. At the same time, ODHS staff are mapping perpetrator behaviors for their documentation. Both may be operating with limited details coming from the family. However, the perpetrator pattern mapping tool allows them to understand the abusive person’s pattern of behavior. At the same time, they understand and respect that minimizing these details may be part of the survivor’s safety plan.
Perpetrator Behavior in the Pandemic
So what do perpetrator behaviors and the impact on family functioning look like during a pandemic? What did ODHS staff and advocates identify when they used the mapping tool?
The Severity Has Increased
D. explained, “From the advocacy perspective, we’ve noticed the severity has increased. We were expecting that to happen. People who use power and control will use anything that’s happening to maintain that. And, when the government is implementing safety practices that involve that stay at home piece, we were expecting that that was going to potentially give those with power and control tactics something to use.”
Having to remain in the home with a perpetrator also means the survivor is likely waiting to call the hotline until they feel like they absolutely have to. Finding the safety to make these calls from within the home is challenging and dangerous. This explains the drop in hotline call frequency and the significant increase in call severity.
The Requests for Shelter Have Increased
Alongside this increase in case severity, there has also been an increase in requests for shelter. D. and Cheryl O’Neill, Domestic and Sexual Violence Coordinator for the ODHS Child Welfare and Child Safety Unit, mentioned partnerships with motels across the state to provide quarantining options for women and their children prior to introducing them to shelter settings and residents. Because of the current pandemic, survivors are often unable to seek out alternate shelter options, such as moving in with a family member or friend. It is also impacting survivors who worry that an emergency room visit due to a domestic violence related injury could mean exposure to COVID-19 for them and their children.
Perpetrators Are Leveraging COVID-19 Fears for Control
Perpetrators are also using the threat of COVID-19 infection as a control tactic. They are preemptively blaming their partners for family exposure if a survivor leaves the home, even if they are leaving to go to work, to buy groceries, or worse yet, to seek medical attention for a domestic violence related injury. This blaming is being used to keep the survivor inside the home and minimize any independence or connection with the outside world.
Perpetrators’ Control via Technology Has Shifted
Perpetrator control via technology has always played a part in domestic violence work, but it has definitely shifted during this pandemic. D. explained, “There isn’t necessarily more tech stalking happening now; it’s just a different level of access. People who were being stalked in the home through their technology would go use a public computer, or a friend’s phone, or a friend’s computer. So, access to other technologies that aren’t being tracked, that is quite limited.”
With the stay-at-home orders, perpetrators have more access and opportunity to track internet activity. They also have more control and ability to restrict how and when survivors can access services or reach out for help.
Less Expected Behaviors
There have been a number of less expected behaviors, too. From the advocacy side, women have reported perpetrators purporting apocalyptic warnings, suggesting that the world is ending and that he needs to kill his family to save them. Perpetrators are also keeping their partners from accessing soap, sanitizers, masks, and other protective equipment/practices to prevent them from leaving the house or to punish them if they do leave. There have also been reported cases of stimulus checks and unemployment benefits being taken from survivors and an increase in reported stalking by previous partners. Related to the heightened severity across domestic violence cases, standoffs between perpetrators and the police have increased, and in some cases, perpetrators are being held for less time in jail to help curb the spread of the virus. The processing of some cases has also been stalled due to the restricted operations and protocols of the court system.
Self-Care & Worker Safety During a Crisis
During the pandemic, Safe & Together’s emphasis on worker safety has become more significant than ever. An increased focus on worker safety is important, especially for advocates and ODHS staff who are still engaging in in-person activities with clients. In-person activities are limited to cases deemed very severe. This means workers are likely interacting face-to-face with the most dangerous cases. In addition, workers need added protections to lessen their risk of exposure to COVID-19. This means that ODHS staff and advocates are on the frontlines of two severe issues: COVID-19 and domestic violence.
As Cheryl explained, “In those situations where we’re getting serious domestic violence cases, we are not relying on technology. Welfare workers are still going out and doing face-to-face and just trying to do that in a socially distanced way. People are safety planning with their staff around how to do that… There have been some really nice donations to child welfare. People in the community have made masks for workers and donated them… But it’s still very difficult to get anything that protects the worker… So, we’ve had workers that have been exposed, and workers that have the virus now. It’s a challenge all the way around.”
Furthermore, the increase in case severity is having a profound impact on ODHS staff and advocates alike. This is especially true for those who identify as survivors themselves. There is a significant amount of vicarious trauma happening in the field. It’s important to remember that advocacy services are there for the advocates and ODHS workers, just as much as they are there for their clients.