The Possibilities and Limitations of Individual Risk Assessment of Domestic Violence by Application of the Matrices of Probability and Consequences

Abstract

By comparing the risk theory and the relevant standard with the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence (Law), it comes to the conclusion that risk management, especially in the domain of its assessment, is based on qualitative methods of analysis. Thus, the potential for the application of semi-quantitative and quantitative risk analysis methods in the application of the said regulation is not used. As it is too ambitious to problematize the purpose and the possibility of implementation of both types of methods of risk analysis in the Law by one paper, this paper deals with possibility and limitations of the conversion of qualitative into quantitative data in the function of risk assessment in the doctrine and practice of preventing domestic violence in the Republic of Serbia. More precisely, the work has identified the purpose, possibilities, limitations and the proposal of their overcoming, in the implication of the matrices of probability and consequences, as a semi-quantitative method of analysing the specific risk in the doctrine and practice of preventing domestic violence in the mentioned spatial framework. This contributes to the creation of conditions that support the effective implementation of the Law, which are not foreseen as a potential for improving the doctrine and practice of preventing domestic violence by using matrices of probability and consequences, while recognizing the identified limitations. The verification of this research creates a starting point for the development of standards for the quantification of the risk of domestic violence, which creates the conditions for the mentioned assessments to be more accurate in terms of precision, ranking and risk classification, as well as the reduction of discretionary decision-making. This would create the conditions for defining good practice in this area, which could be taken to the necessary extent in other countries.