Fathers and Domestic Violence: Building Motivation for Change through Perpetrator Programmes

Abstract

Men's intersecting identities as fathers and as perpetrators of domestic violence are increasingly acknowledged in research and practice and children's social services are referring such men to perpetrator programmes. This paper draws on the evaluation of a newly established voluntary programme for male perpetrators of domestic violence in north‐east England to consider how men's involvement with children's social services and fathering roles shaped motivation to engage with a process of change.The evaluation drew on project throughput data and background information on programme participants as well as interviews undertaken with men and their partners. Men who were currently involved with children's social services were found to be more likely than other programme participants to engage with the programme for more than five sessions. The desire to secure or regain access to their children or to avoid care proceedings was an extrinsic form of motivation that appeared effective in securing men's initial engagement with the programme. However, children could also function as a form of intrinsic motivation with men developing their awareness of the impact of abusive behaviour on children and viewing their participation in the programme as a means of becoming a ‘better father’. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.‘The desire to secure or regain access to their children or to avoid care proceedings was an extrinsic form of motivation’Key Practitioner Messages Most men who contacted Strength to Change (STC), a voluntary programme for perpetrators of domestic violence in north‐east England, were parents. Involvement with children's services and regarding the programme as a means of acquiring access to children or avoiding care proceedings facilitated rather than hindered men's engagement with the programme. Men's identity as fathers functioned as a source of intrinsic motivation with men describing the programme as enabling them to become a ‘better father’. Although the STC programme did not have a specific remit to address fathering, it enabled men to use the image of themselves as fathers and awareness of the impact of domestic violence on children as a means of achieving change.‘Men describing the programme as enabling them to become a ‘better father’’