Domestic Violence and Whole Family Interventions: Charting Change in the Lives of Service Users

Abstract

AbstractIn this article we report the results of the introduction of measures to ascertain the impact of therapeutic services for families where domestic violence has taken place. The setting is a specialist service for families located in Dublin, Ireland. The overall goal of the intervention was the ending of violence. To help achieve this, therapies sought to reduce conflict, promote better parental mental health and improve the quality of relationships between parents and children. Using validated instruments, measures were taken at Time 1 (entering service) from seventy-one mothers and forty fathers. At the time of data analysis for this article thirty-seven mothers and twenty-four fathers had completed the Time 2 (leaving service) surveys. Results indicate significant reduction in conflict between participating partners, and improvements in parental mental health and quality of parent–child relationships. These results add support to the view that whilst intervention goals must include the cessation of domestic violence, this can only be achieved with due attention to the complexity of the causes. The use of validated instruments is helpful in seeking to establish outcomes measures that may supplement more traditional measures of efficacy of interventions within specialist services.