Violence Against Women: Synthesis of Research on Offender Interventions

• NCJ Number: 201222
• Author(s): Daniel G. Saunders; Richard M. Hamill
• Date Published: June 2003
• Length: 43 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research Report
• Grant Number(s): 98-WT-VX-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This federally funded report provides an overview of the latest empirical research on interventions for men who assault women, physically or sexually.

Abstract

Despite an accumulation of studies evaluating programs for domestic violence offenders, rigorous studies are few and firm conclusions cannot be made yet about intervention effectiveness. This report funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, offers a synthesis of the most recent research on intervention for men who assault women (i.e., wives, girlfriends, and acquaintances). The report begins with a description of the major components of existing programs and describes what is known about effective assessment and treatment methods. Several topics of interest to practitioners are covered including increasing the batter’s motivation for treatment; assessing dangerousness and risk of recidivism; assessing and addressing complication factors, such as illiteracy, mental illness, and substance abuse; judging the quality of domestic violence and sexual assault program evaluations; and innovations and issues requiring additional research including prison programs, integrated substance abuse and offender interventions, attachment disorders, leader gender, treatment length, conjoint versus gender-specific formats, and program standards. Also, discussed is the role of research in resolving controversial issues and the characteristics of sound evaluations. References