Domestic Violence Intervention Research Articles

Women's Perceptions of the Impact of a Domestic Violence Treatment Program For Male Perpetrators

This qualitative descriptive study examined women's perceptions of a court mandated batterer treatment program that their spouse or partner participated in following arrest for domestic violence. Although the women felt treatment had a positive impact on several factors, their feedback helped identify possible improvements in batterer treatment programs.

Evaluating Domestic Violence Interventions for Black Women

ABSTRACT Although African American women are at disproportionate risk for domestic violence, review of the literature suggests that traditional law enforcement, criminal justice, and advocacy efforts may be ineffective with this population due to (a) Black female victims' experiences of systemic racism and oppression, which prevents disclosure of abuse and access to resources, and (b) utilization of culture-blind approaches in the development and administration of interventions. In an attempt to increase cultural sensitivity in addressing violence against Black women and to increase the effectiveness of current interventions, we examine the use of restorative justice approaches that both incorporate and go beyond criminal justice interventions by including the needs and concerns of Black female victims, offenders, and the larger community to eliminate violence.

The Importance of Male Batters’ Attributions in Understanding and Preventing Domestic Violence

The present article reviews the literature regarding the importance of taking into account male batters’ attributions in order to understand and to curtail their violence. Many treatment programs have been devised to stop domestic violence (DV); however, little comparative research exists. Therefore, we are unable to determine which techniques are effective and which are not. We contend that uncovering battering men’s attributions is important in understanding DV, and specifically, that these attributions are the key to curtailing DV. We present a typology of battering men’s attributions. What is common to these attribution styles is the evasion of responsibility for commission of, and for the need to take affirmative action to stop, the violence. These attribution styles have been found to increase battering men’s hostility and stress, their risk for engaging in violent behavior, as well as enabling battering men to continue their violence unchecked. Therefore, attributions are a crucial ingredient in DV and must be addressed directly and intensely in DV treatment programs in order to increase their (as yet limited) effectiveness.

Domestic Violence Screening and Treatment in the Workplace

The purpose of this study was to survey occupational health nurses about their perceived ability to screen for and treat domestic violence in the workplace. Occupational health nurses providing direct care or case management anonymously responded to the mailed Occupational Health Nurses' Survey on Screening for Domestic Violence in the Workplace. Findings indicate that occupational health nurses consider domestic violence screening and treatment to be components of their nursing role, but do not believe they have adequate training to competently care for workers who have experienced domestic violence. The occupational health nurses also did not believe policies existed in their workplace to assist them in treating these workers. Findings from this study can be used as the foundation for domestic violence education, policy development, and intervention research.

Domestic Violence Screening and Treatment in the Workplace

The purpose of this study was to survey occupational health nurses about their perceived ability to screen for and treat domestic violence in the workplace. Occupational health nurses providing direct care or case management anonymously responded to the mailed Occupational Health Nurses' Survey on Screening for Domestic Violence in the Workplace. Findings indicate that occupational health nurses consider domestic violence screening and treatment to be components of their nursing role, but do not believe they have adequate training to competently care for workers who have experienced domestic violence. The occupational health nurses also did not believe policies existed in their workplace to assist them in treating these workers. Findings from this study can be used as the foundation for domestic violence education, policy development, and intervention research.

The Fathering of Violent Men

The study presented in this research note aims to expand our understanding of the experience of fathering for men who are violent toward their partners. The naturalistic qualitative methodology applied was shaped by phenomenological, feminist, and interpretative interactionist influences. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 abusive men identified through domestic violence intervention centers. The findings describe the drama of fathering for abusive men, centered on an inner dialogue between an experienced constriction and a yearning for a closer, deeper connection with their children. The discussion focuses on the meaning of fathering for abusive men, and possible applications for intervention are proposed.

Collaborating for Family Safety

Over the past three decades, children exposed to domestic violence have moved from being considered “invisible victims” to being the focus of extensive social science research and the target of innovative interventions. Class action suits such as the Nicholson case have accelerated attention to these children and their families as well as accelerated changes in policy and practice. As this interest was growing nationwide, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), supported by the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, convened a national working group in the late 1990s to focus on the fragmentation of services provided to families with children where adult domestic violence was occurring. The children in these families may have been direct victims of child abuse and neglect and/or exposed to the violence between adults in their homes. The result was a set of best practice guidelines published in 1999 as Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment: Guidelines for Policy and Practice. This document has become known as the Greenbook, deriving its name from the color of its cover.

The Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study “Extra-Aggression” Score as an Indicator in Cognitive Restructuring Therapy for Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

It was hypothesized that male perpetrators of domestic violence in the early stages of a 1-year process of cognitive restructuring therapy would manifest on the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study higher levels of extra-aggressiveness than in later stages of the therapy process. A sample of male batterers in the process of treatment took the Rosenzweig instrument. The resulting responses were rated by trained scorers. Chi-square calculations revealed that batterers in the first quarter of treatment manifested Rosenzweig responses indicative of extra-aggressiveness, whereas in the fourth quarter, batterers manifested Rosenzweig responses indicative of im-aggression. The data are discussed relative to implications for domestic violence treatment and the use of the Rosenzweig instrument as an index of treatment progress.

Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence Interventions: The Need for Theoretical Based Research

Recent literature reviews1 have underscored the need to improve intervention programs for individuals who have problems with intimate partner violence (IPV). This literature1 points out that the tr...

Lessons Learned from a Faith Community-Based Domestic Violence Pilot Program in Forsyth County, NC

The authors describe the conceptualization, development, implementation and refinement of a faith community-based initiative to train clergy and lay leaders to respond appropriately to domestic violence within faith communities, to strengthen ties to local secular providers of DV services, and to promote effective prevention, identification, intervention, and treatment of domestic violence in congregations throughout the Winston-Salem, NC area. Results from focus groups conducted with program participants are presented, along with lesson learned and recommendations for future efforts.

Female Domestic Violence Offenders: Their Attachment Security, Trauma Symptoms, and Personality Organization

Unlike male domestic violence offenders, female domestic violence offenders have traditionally been overlooked in research and theory, despite the fact that females also have high rates of domestic violence perpetration. Towards the aim of extending extant research on male and female pepetrators of domestic violence, we examined attachment style, trauma symptoms, and personality organization in 33 female offenders receiving mandated treatment for domestic violence. These offenders were compared to 32 nonoffending women receiving psychological treatment. The Experiences in Close Relationships Revised (ECR-Revised) was used to examine adult attachment, the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) was used to examine trauma symptomology, and finally, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III) was used to examine cluster B personality traits. Analyses indicated that female domestic violence offenders reported less attachment security, more trauma-related symptoms, and more personality psychopathology (Antisocial, Borderline, and Dependent Subscales) than did nonoffender clinical comparison women.

A Review of Research on Violence in Same-Gender Couples

This paper reviews current research that has primarily focused on domestic violence among same-gender couples. Several key issues pertaining to the identification, assessment, and treatment of domestic violence among same-gender couples are examined and outlined to assist clinicians in effectively working with gay and lesbian clients who may be experiencing domestic violence. Resource information is included to help mental health clinicians recognize specific stressors of marginalized individuals as well as assessment and treatment recommendations are made.

Preliminary Results of a Police-Advocate Home-Visit Intervention Project for Victims of Domestic Violence

A police-advocate home-visit intervention project was conducted with 204 women who were victims of domestic violence requiring police intervention. These women, who resided with their children at the time of the incident, received law enforcement-advocacy services through a home-visit project conducted by neighborhood patrol officers and battered women's advocates. A comparison group of battered women, receiving the intervention, and a matched group of battered women, receiving standard police intervention, revealed a significant reduction in calls for police service for the intervention group, for a 12-month period following the intervention. Additional investigation is required to fully understand the reason for this difference and the potential utility of this type of domestic violence intervention.

Men’s Recognition of Violence Against Women and Spousal Abuse: Comparison of Three Groups of Men

Our goal was to assess whether men in the following three groups differ in their ability to recognize and judge the severity of diverse forms of aggressive behavior: (a) men who reported being physically aggressive toward their spouses and who were entering treatment for domestic violence; (b) men who, after participating in a treatment program, were no longer physically violent; and (c) men who reported never having been physically violent towards their spouses (NPV group-non-physically violent). All 81 men in the study reported being verbally aggressive toward their spouses. Men who had been in treatment for spousal abuse and who had not been physically violent toward their spouses since finishing the program were better able than the other two groups to recognize emotionally abusive behaviors.

Cognitive behavioural therapy for men who physically abuse their female partner

In national surveys between 10 % and 34 % of women have reported being physically assaulted by an intimate male partner. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or programmes with elements of CBT are frequently used treatments for physically abusive men. Participants either enroll voluntarily or are obliged to participate in CBT by means of a court order. CBT not only seeks to change behaviour using established behavioural strategies, but also targets the thinking patterns and beliefs that are thought to contribute to violence. To measure the effects of CBT and similar interventions on men's physical abuse of their female partners. We searched the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CENTRAL), C2-SPECTR, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, Care Data/Social Care Online, Sociological Abstracts, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Bibliography of Nordic Criminology (all to late 2006), and SIGLE to 2003. Santé mentale au Québec was handsearched from 1976 to 2003 and reference lists of articles. We also contacted field experts and the authors of included studies. Randomised controlled trials (including cluster-randomised and quasi-randomised trials) of cognitive behavioural therapy with men who physically abuse their partners and reporting effects on continued violence. Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information. Six trials, all from the USA, involving 2343 people, were included. A meta-analysis of four trials comparing CBT with a no-intervention control with 1771 participants, reported that the relative risk of violence was 0.86 (favouring the intervention group) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 0.54 to 1.38. This is a small effect size, and the confidence interval is so wide that there is no clear evidence for an effect. One study (Wisconsin Study) compared CBT with process-psychodynamic group treatment and found a relative risk of new violence of 1.07 (95% CI 0.68 to 1.68). Even though the process-psychodynamic treatment did marginally better than CBT, this result is also equivocal. Finally, one small study (N = 64) compared a combined treatment for substance abuse and domestic violence (SADV) with a Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) group. An analysis involving 58 participants investigated the effect on reduction in frequency of physical violence episodes. The effect size was 0.30 (favouring TSF) with 95% confidence interval from -0.22 to 0.81. There are still too few randomised controlled effect evaluations to conclude about the effects of cognitive behaviour therapy on domestic violence.

Dual Arrest and Other Unintended Consequences of Mandatory Arrest in New York City: A Brief Report

In jurisdictions across the United States, the mandated arrest of individuals perpetrating domestic violence crimes termed “mandatory arrest” or “pro-arrest” policies has become a key policy solution to the issue of domestic violence. The purposes of the policies are to standardize the police response to, and increase the number of, arrests stemming from domestic violence incidents by removing or reducing police discretion to arrest. In 1994, the New York state legislature passed the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act, which contained provisions enacting a mandatory arrest statute. Using information from 183 callers to a telephone helpline for victims of domestic violence, we describe four unintended consequences of the policy: “unwanted,” “dual,” “retaliatory,” and “no” arrest. Bi- and multivariate analyses are used to identify victim and perpetrator sociodemographic, situational, and legal factors associated with each arrest type. Results are discussed in the context of the effects of mandatory arrest policies and minimizing problems associated with it in the future.

Womenʼs Perceptions of the Impact of a Domestic Violence Treatment Program For Male Perpetrators

Womenʼs Perceptions of the Impact of a Domestic Violence Treatment Program For Male Perpetrators

Identifying Subgroups at High Risk of Dropping Out of Domestic Batterer Treatment

This study identifies the subgroups of domestic batterers who are at a low or high risk of failing to complete domestic batterer cognitive behavioral treatment. The sample is composed of 355 domestic batterers ordered to complete treatment, with 31.8% not completing treatment. Three subgroups of batterers were identified as having at least a 60% chance of treatment failure: (a) unemployed generalized aggressors, (b) high school dropouts ordered into substance abuse treatment, and (c) unemployed offenders ordered into substance abuse treatment. Furthermore, a high school education, even when offenders are unemployed or living in poverty, buffers the negative effects of a substance abuse problem among court-mandated batterers required to participate in both domestic violence treatment and substance abuse treatment. Two thirds of substance-abusing high school graduates completed both domestic violence and substance abuse treatment, compared to only one third of the substance-abusing high school dropouts. Implications are discussed.

Short Term Change in Attitude and Motivating Factors to Change Abusive Behavior of Male Batterers after Participating in a Group Intervention Program Based on the Pro-Feminist and Cognitive-Behavioral Approach

The Domestic Abuse Education Project (DAEP), in Burlington, Middlebury, and St. Albans, Vermont, is a group based domestic abuse intervention program, based in a pro-feminist and cognitive-behavioral approach for domestic violence intervention and prevention. A pre and post-test instrument was developed and implemented to determine short-term change in attitude of participants and motivating factors to change behavior, after completing the twenty-seven session program. After the program, participants reported a positive change in attitudes regarding their abusive behavior and stereotypical beliefs about women. Participants were also more motivated to change their behavior by the effect abuse has on their family relationships. However, many participants continued to agree that insecurity, jealousy, and alcohol and drug use can cause violence. The positive changes in attitude and motivational factors show that this is an effective model in changing underlying batterer attitudes that provide rationale for abusive behavior.

Violence and the Private: A Girardian Model of Domestic Violence in Society

The justice system has progressed considerably with regards to domestic violence over past few centuries. America has a long history of treating domestic violence differently from public violence. From the nation's founding through the mid nineteenth century, domestic violence jurisprudence was shaped by the common-law prerogative of chastisement, which allowed a husband to assault his wife within certain reasonable limitations. Though formal recognition of chastisement faded, twentieth-century jurisprudence replaced it with privacy justifications for avoiding enforcement of civil and criminal penalties in intramarital disputes. Recent rates, however, show enforcement of criminal penalties against perpetrators of domestic violence on par with, or even exceeding, enforcement in cases of public violence. Yet, as cases like that of Brett and Kim Myers demonstrate, echoes of that history can still be heard in today's legal system. The questions how domestic violence differs from public violence and why it might demand different legal treatment remain relevant. Rene Girard, a French religious anthropologist, argues in his seminal 1972 work, Violence and the Sacred, that violence is an inevitable element of society. Violence exists, and once aroused it threatens to snowball throughout society and cause chaos. Yet society uses ritual to alleviate violence on the theory that violence can be channeled into a sacrificial victim that, by being destroyed, can both provide an outlet for violence and restore social order. The American legal system has historically been unwilling to heavily penalize domestic violence - private violence - because, as I shall demonstrate, it has tacitly viewed victims of such violence as sacrifices providing an outlet against public violence. This Essay will explore the link between the Girardian model of sacrifice and the American legal system's historical treatment of domestic violence. In Part I, I will discuss the evolution of that treatment, looking at examples in the criminal justice system from police and courts. In Part II, I will turn to the Girardian sacrifice structure as a descriptive model of this domestic-violence tolerance, incorporating ideas from other ritual anthropologists. Finally, in Part III, I will explain how this new understanding can inform feminist theories of domestic violence and our practical understanding of the public-private relationship.