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Overview:
Psychosocial
evaluation and threat risk assessment, or PETRA
is basically a five step process involving
receipt of the threat and initial assessment.
Level two is marked by a formal threat assessment
by personnel specifically trained for this task.
The third step involves conducting a psychosocial
evaluation. The fourth step involves implementing
protective interventions which may include
discipline as well as therapeutic efforts to
mitigate school violence. The
final step is to document all actions taken and
schedule follow up to check on the fidelity and
efficacy of the interventions that were put in
place. See the draft threat assessment form below
for an example of how to structure this process.
The
first step in reducing school violence is to document receipt of the threat.
Once the threat has been received it is
investigated by an administrator to make an
initial estimate of the risk associated with the
threatening behavior. Approximately three-fourths
of threats are considered low level and do not
warrant further investigation. In these and all
instances, it is important to implement an
intervention and document action taken. At a
minimum, this initial level of assessment should
include the student making the threat, any
witnesses, and the school based administrator.
In
cases where the administrator feels he or she
needs more information regarding the threatening
behavior to help determine the associated level of
risk, a formal threat assessment should be called
for. This second tier of evaluation is marked by
an analysis of the content of the threat and
examination of the predisposing and precipitating
characteristics associated with it to determine
the threat risk. This level of assessment should
include personnel in the school with clinical
experience training in threat assessment as well
as the students parents and teachers or others
with knowledge of the student. If the level of
threat is considered low, the team should put
interventions in place and document the actions
taken. If the threat is considered medium or high,
a psycho-social evaluation should be conducted.
Psychosocial
evaluation is conducted to develop a better
understanding of the threatening students social
and emotional functioning at home and school to
both better understand the etiology of the
behavior and to identify areas in need of
intervention to keep the threat of violence from
becoming an act of violence. This evaluation is
typically conducted by clinically based personnel
and may include law enforcement personnel as well,
particularly if arrest or emergency psychiatric
placement is deemed appropriate. Having law
enforcement involved at this point may also
facilitate parental cooperation and send a clear
message that this type of threatening behavior is
taken seriously. Regardless of the outcome,
interventions need to be implemented to reduce
future incidents of school violence.
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