Guardian of the Discipline
Contributor – Jacqueline Callari Robinson

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, is a towering, inspirational, and progressive national and international leader, Nurse, Researcher, collaborator, and mentor. Dr. Campbell, Jackie, is the steward for innovative change in domestic violence and intimate partner violence (IPV), originating from the most authentic and empathetic approach to patient empowerment and health equity for families experiencing violence. Her research has inspired health policy and significantly impacted education and clinical practice, making her a key figure in healthcare.

In the 1970s, women and families had their nurse champion, Jacquelyn (Jackie) Campbell. Dr. Campbell was working on her master’s degree at Wright State University and working at an inner-city high school. Deeply connected and passionate about the patient population she served, Dr. Campbell inquired with patients to gain insights on how to serve these teens better and conduct research that would benefit them. Dr. Campbell began her research, under the direction of Dr. Jo Ann Ashley, by reviewing homicide records in Dayton, Ohio, and found that the number one cause of homicide for women was at the hands of a current or former boyfriend or husband.

In 1981, Dr. Campbell published the findings in Advances in Nursing Science under the title “Misogyny and Homicide of Women” (Campbell, 1981). Dr. Campbell speaks in this article of the need to frame the biological and psychological behaviors and factors requiring examination of the roots of intimate partner violence. Dr. Campbell describes how misogyny is a theoretical frame that describes the dominant patriarchal social system where males hold power (Campbell, 1981). This article is an example of Dr. Campbell’s contribution to nursing theory development, the critical review of prior theories challenging the notion of women as victims and weak.

Dr. Campbell’s passion for the service of women and families continued with the desire to know and understand which women who experienced violence were at the highest risk for homicide. Dr. Campbell then created the Danger Assessment, a tool that would empower women through their responses to understand their risk of homicide.

In 1996, Dr. Campbell, a Professor at Johns Hopkins, received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the predictive validity of the risk factors in the Danger Assessment. In May 1981, a letter to the editor from forensic nurse Daniel Sheridan appeared in AJN, sparking the creation of a network of nurses working with abused women. The members of what has since become the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International put the Danger Assessment to work.

Dr. Campbell’s contribution to society and the collective social service, criminal justice, and healthcare response to intimate partner violence over the past few decades has been transformational. According to Dr. Campbell (2009), the use of the Danger Assessment has increased awareness of domestic violence and public demand to understand and determine early identification, safety planning, and relational and cultural safety in empowering patients.
Most recently, in 2020, Dr. Campbell received funding from the NIH to compare the risk of firearm-related intimate partner homicide and homicide-suicide in Texas and Maryland. Her ongoing research and separate NIH grant to fund her and her colleagues to continue training and mentoring pre- and postdoctoral students in research on trauma and violence reflect her unwavering commitment to the future of healthcare.

The potential dissolution or restructuring of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) would have profound implications for scholars like Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, whose influential work on gender-based violence (GBV), intimate partner homicide risk assessment, and health equity has been deeply supported by NINR funding. Specifically, defunding the NINR poses a threat to the collaborative and community-based nature of nursing’s scholarly and scientific research priorities, which are relatively low-cost, interdisciplinary, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered. Dismantling the NINR risks undermining the unique and valuable contributions of nursing scientists and scholars, potentially leading to a loss of their impactful work that directly affects the everyday lives of families. The nursing profession has a significant impact on the social determinants of health, trauma care, and public health of the United States. It must continue to serve as a valuable resource for nursing research.

In a recent conversation with Dr. Campbell and our shared concerns about the NINR, Dr Campbell said, “My understanding is that NINR is being subsumed into some new entity along with NIMHD & NIAID. The former director – Shannon Zenk – was told she could either work at IHS in Montana, ND, or Alaska, or she could resign. She is trying to fight that legally, but with no success so far – I think she has until 9/1 to resign. She is listed as Former Director, and the website says she was “removed”. There is an acting scientific director of NINR named Courtney Ferrell Aklin as of 4/1/2025. She is not a nurse and was the Acting Associate Deputy Director of NIH and the chief of staff of NIMHD. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and has been staff at NIH in various positions for 15 years. People at FNINR are trying to activate the nursing community to protest these issues, but many seem to think the ship has sailed. I always tell myself we didn’t use to have NINR, and in 3.5 years, hopefully, we can build it back again!!!”

Dr. Campbell continues to inspire my journey in caring for patients who experience violence. Messing et al. (2022) engage us as nurses in our essential holistic nursing practice, as demonstrated by Dr. Campbell. The authors describe how Dr. Campbell mentored us to create and build trust with our patients, create culturally safe environments, and empower ourselves with essential communications and clinical practice based on our holistic assessments of our patients.

References

Campbell, J. C. (1981). Misogyny and homicide of women. Advances in Nursing Science, 3(2), 67–85.

Campbell, J. C. (1986). Nursing assessment of risk of homicide for battered women. Advances in Nursing Science, 8(4), 36–51.

Campbell, J. C. (1992). “If I can’t have you, no one can”: Power and control in homicide of female partners. In J. Radford & D. E. H. Russell (Eds.), Femicide: The politics of woman killing (pp. 99–113). Twayne.

Campbell, J. C. (1995). Assessing dangerousness. Sage. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.92

Campbell, J. C. (2002). Safety planning based on lethality assessment for partners of batterers in treatment. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 5(2), 129–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J146v05n02_08

Campbell, J. C. (2004). Helping women understand their risk in situations of intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(12), 1464–1477. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504269694

Campbell, J. C. (2005). Assessing dangerousness in domestic violence cases: History, challenges, and opportunities. Criminology and Public Policy, 4(4), 653–672. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2005.00350.x

Campbell, J. C. (2007). Assessing dangerousness: Violence by batterers and child abusers. Springer. ISBN 9780826102980; ISBN 0826102980; NLM Unique ID 101302658

Campbell, J. C., O’Sullivan, C., Roehl, J., & Webster, D. W. (2005). Intimate partner violence risk assessment validation study: The RAVE study (NIJ Grant No. 209731). National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/209731.pdf

Campbell, J. C., Sharps, P., & Glass, N. (2001). Risk assessment for intimate partner violence. In G. F. Pinard & L. Pagani (Eds.), Clinical assessment of dangerousness: Empirical contributions (pp. 136–157). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511500015.009

Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C. R., Campbell, D. W., Curry, M. A., Gary, F. A., McFarlane, J., Sachs, C., Sharps, P., Ulrich, Y., Wilt, S. A., Manganello, J., Xu, X., Schollenberger, J., & Laughon, K. (2003a). Assessing risk factors for intimate partner homicide. National Institute of Justice Journal, 250, 14–19. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.93.7.1089

Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C. R., Campbell, D. W., Curry, M. A., Gary, F. A., McFarlane, J., Sachs, C., Sharps, P., Ulrich, Y., Wilt, S. A., Manganello, J., Xu, X., Schollenberger, J., Frye, V., & Laughon, K. (2003b). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1089–1097. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1089

Campbell, J. C., Matoff-Stepp, S., Velez, M., Cox, H. H., & Laughon, K. (2021). Pregnancy-associated deaths from homicide, suicide, and drug overdose: Review of research and the intersection with intimate partner violence. Journal of Women’s Health, 30(2), 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2020.8875

Heck, J. L., Jones, E. J., Bohn, D., McCage, S., Parker, J. G., Parker, M., Pierce, S., & Campbell, J. C. (2020). Maternal mortality among American Indian/Alaska Native women: A scoping review. Journal of Women’s Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2020.8890

Messing, J., Wachter, K., AbiNader, M., Ward-Lasher, A., Njie-Carr, V., Sabri, B., Murray, S., Noor-Oshiro, A., & Campbell, J. C. (2022). “We have to build trust”: Intimate partner violence risk assessment with immigrant and refugee survivors. Social Work Research, 46(1), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/svab030

Messing, J. T., AbiNader, M., Bent-Goodley, T., & Campbell, J. C. (2022). Preventing intimate partner homicide: The long road ahead. Homicide Studies, 26(1), 91–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679211048492

Patch, M., Campbell, J. C., Farag, Y., Perrin, N., Anderson, J., & Kelen, G. (2021). U.S. emergency department visits by adult women for non-fatal intimate partner strangulation, 2006–2014: Prevalence and associated characteristics. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 47(3), 439–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jen.2020.11.007

Honors

2000 National Academy of Medicine
2005 American Society of Criminology Vollmer Award recipient;
2005-2006 Institute of Medicine/American Academy of Nursing/American Nurses’ Foundation Scholar in Residence
2011 JHU Gilman Scholar (Inaugural group)
2012 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 20 for 20 – one of 20 national leaders and visionaries who have
had a transformative effect on the field of violence and injury prevention
2016 Johns Hopkins University Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring (Inaugural)
2015 National Library of Medicine “Nurses Confronting Violence, Improving Women’s Lives” Special Display at NLM

About Jacqueline Callari Robinson

As research assistant for the Advanced Nursing Education – Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (HRSA ANE SANE) Educational Grant and STARS Training, Jacqueline Callari has not only played a pivotal role but also led the conceptualization and operationalization of these significant projects. Her leadership was also evident in spearheading the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Tracking Our Truth” grant and the HRSA STARS Grant. In 2024, Jacqueline Callari, together with Dr. Maija Anderson, was awarded the Hillman grant to implement a Model of Care for Victims of Law Enforcement Violence. The project aims to test the feasibility of a new care model through a pilot program, outline a research agenda for implementation, and investigate policy opportunities to expand program access for victims of police violence. In 2020 and 2023, Jacqueline edited the SANE A/P Preparation Manuscript, a publication by Springer Publishing Company. Her role in editing this significant work underscores her contribution to the field. Jacqueline’s expertise lies in the assessment, evaluation, and care of Sexual Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence patients, and Forensic Nursing education, building the forensic nursing workforce to better care for patients who experience violence.