Preventing Political and Targeted Violence: A Readiness Assessment of Behavioral Health Professionals

A significant factor threatening democracy and the safety of marginalized groups within the US is a surge in targeted violence, such as politically-motivated violence, hate crimes, and violence in places like schools and places of worship (McCain Institute, 2021). Behavioral health professionals (BHPs), including social workers, have important roles to play in preventing targeted violence, however there is minimal examination of training and willingness to engage with the topic (Hutson, 2021). Among social workers, there are concerns about ethics, confidentiality, personal/professional safety, collaboration with law enforcement, and securitization of the profession (Haugstvedt, 2019). This study reports the first US-based needs assessment of BHPs’ readiness and willingness to engage in preventing this sort of violence using a survey of practitioners from a diverse county that recently experienced a high-profile act of targeted violence.

Methods: BHPs were recruited using existing professional networks and listservs. Following informed consent, participants answered questions regarding perceived threats, ethical considerations, professional roles, clinical preparedness, and attitudes toward collaborating with law enforcement. Analyses focused on how demographic factors affected these key outcomes.

Results: 149 BHPs participated: They were 30.2% Male; 57.7% Caucasian, 36.2% Black, and 6.2% other/mixed race (42.9% BIPOC); 67.1% Urban; average age 32.3 (SD=7.4), with a mean 7.6 years practice experience (SD=5.6); and approximately evenly split between social work, psychiatry/psychology, and counseling. The majority (89.3%) agreed that BHPs have a significant role in preventing targeted violence, and 80% strongly endorsed a professional and ethical obligation to engage. Male, BIPOC, and urban practitioners were more likely to endorse engagement. The results regarding law enforcement collaboration were complex; the majority (85.2%) agreed that collaborating is important to prevent violence, but 69.8% expressed hesitancy due to structural problems in law enforcement. Social workers expressed the highest level of concern. Critical gaps and inequities in clinical preparedness emerged. Overall, only 65.1% of the sample felt "highly prepared" to address risks or engage with clients expressing violent ideologies. In multivariate models, length of practice experience, being male, being BIPOC, and being a non-social worker, were most associated with perceived readiness.

Discussion: Safeguarding democracy and the prevention and intervention of radicalizing individuals towards political/targeted violence requires a prepared and confident frontline workforce. This study highlights a strong perceived professional mandate and willingness among BHPs; however, it also exposes critical vulnerabilities in decentralized prevention readiness, particularly the severe lack of preparedness among clinical social workers, who provide the vast majority of U.S. behavioral care, and rural practitioners operating in high-risk, resource-deprived areas. To effectively leverage public health models against targeted violence, policymakers must prioritize discipline-specific, capacity-building, and empirically validated trainings that address both inequities in practitioner confidence and a lack of background knowledge essential to successful prevention and intervention. Importantly, the significant ethical concerns regarding law enforcement collaboration need to be addressed, especially as federal agencies that respond to targeted violence threats have been revamped in deeply concerning ways under the Trump administration and have themselves engaged in state-sponsored violence against racial/ethnic minority groups. Possible training options are discussed.