Domestic Violence Offenders ─ Current Interventions, Research, and Implications for Policies and Standards

Women’s shelters and safe houses were a good first step, but they only address part of the problem. Learn what else must be done to address the problem of domestic violence!

Domestic Violence Offenders presents recent research, current interventions, and legal standards for people arrested for domestic violence. It also addresses the controversies that have arisen in the wake of the mandatory standards for batterer interventions that have been established by various jurisdictions, examining the type of treatment modality and content permitted by various jurisdictions, the duration of treatment, and the relationship of the various standards to actual research. This essential book also provides suggestions for a more inclusive, less rigid process for creating standards and policies for use with this population. Handy tables and charts make the information easily accessible.

From the editors: “The initial societal response to intimate partner violence was the development of the shelter movement for battered women. Women’s shelters and/or safe houses developed in almost all major population areas throughout the United States and abroad. The goals were to provide a safe environment for abused women and their children, to offer advocacy, counseling, and medical services, and to empower women to leave their abusers. While shelters continue to serve these and other critical needs and are an essential part of the service delivery system for battered women, they address only part of the problem. Left untreated, batterers often will continue to abuse their partners who leave shelters and return to the relationship. If their partners leave the relationship, the batterers may find new victims to abuse. The response to this harsh reality was the development of batterer intervention programs.”

Domestic Violence Offenders provides you with informed discussions of:

• the implications of research and policies for those providing interventions
• why it is premature for states to establish certain rigid standards for batterer programs, and how some of the current standards may produce more harm than good
• the history of batterer intervention programs
• completion and recidivism among court- and self-referred batterers
• the Alternatives to Violence program and the experiences and perceptions of its founder
• common aspects of various intervention programs—confidentiality, group structure and length, partner contacts, leadership configuration, and program goals
• topics addressed by most programs—power and control, anger management, substance abuse, stress reduction, parenting, communication, and more
• the controversial and often misunderstood issue of female partner aggression and violence
• the Stages of Change approach to domestic violence treatment
• lethality assessment and safety planning for partners of batterers
• the advantages of conjoint therapy for certain types of cases
• the Illinois Protocol for batterer programs
• outcome research on programs for batterers
• and a great deal more!