Session 5 Direct Service for Men Who Batter
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Kantor and Asdigian (1993) identified three pathways linking violence and
abuse in the family of origin to current woman abuse:
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the direct effect of observing parental violence,
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HOWEVER: most men who experience family of origin violence are not violent
w/ partner
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a low level of education
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HOWEVER: most men with less than high school education are not violent
w/ partners
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multi-generational heavy drinking
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HOWEVER: most children of alcoholics and most active alcohics are NOT violent
w/ partners
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Conclude: there is no single factor which, when present, more than 50%
of those w/ that factor will be violent w/partner, HOWEVER, the more risk
factors a man has, the more likely he will be a batterer
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key risk factors (personal)
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low income
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substance abuse
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mental illness
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violence in the family of origin
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high hostility
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lacks spouse-specific assertiveness
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negative beliefs about women
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acceptance of situational violence
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other forms of abuse (fighting, stalking, harassment)
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gender role rigidity
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homophobia
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racism
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key risk factors (interpersonal)
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divorce
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distance to extended family
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dense (non-radial) or limited networks
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key risk factors (societal)
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racial, gender, sexual inequality
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isolation of nuclear families
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religious fundamentalism
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women's less access to divorce
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Conclude: the only way to identify a batterer is to ask his victim
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O'Leary (1993) sees two distinct kinds of violence:
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pathological
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high violence
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high coercion
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severe physical aggression
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lower freq
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early onset
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normative
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low violence
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later onset
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higher frequency
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"mutual combat"
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the perception of different kinds of violence sets the stage for thinking
there are different kinds of batterers
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There ARE different kinds, but don't know if thats important
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Tri-fold typology
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family-only (normal)
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dysphoric/borderline (unstable)
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generally violent (anti-social)
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if different types are accepted, three implications:
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different causal variables predict each type
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different interventions are required
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prevention may deter movement from lower to higher level of violence
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Screening & Assessment [HANDOUTS]
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Not safe to screen batterers UNLESS he knows all men are screened
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If screen, must intervene
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victim safety is the greatest consideration
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Interventions for Men Who Batter
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Criminal Justice Interventions
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protective orders
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60 percent of the women report being abused in the year after the order
was granted (Harrell, Smith, & Newmark, 1993).
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Most women are satisfied with OP, although they use it different than justice
system wants them to
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e.g. variable access
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e.g. use it to regulate his behavior
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arrest: The single-most effective intervention for batterers
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Minneapolis Experiment (1981)
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compares 3 randomly assigned interventions:
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arrest
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order offender from premisis for 24 hours
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try to restore order (mediate or counsel)
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arrest was significantly more likely to result in lower recidivism next
6 mos.
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6 replications of Minneapolis experiment:
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Ohmaha -- Dunford, Huizinga, & Elliot (1989) [no difference]
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Milwaukee -- Sherman, Smith, Schmidt, & Rogan (1992) [interactiuon
effect between outcome and
stake in conformity]
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Charlotte -- Hirschel, Hutchison, Dean, kelly, & Pesackis (1990) [no
difference]
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Colorado Springs -- Berk, Campbell, Klap, & Western (1990) [no difference]
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•compared OP+arrest v. OP+cnslg v. OP v. mediation
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no intervention at any site performed better than arrest: => one can
do no better than arresting the offender
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prosecution
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Ford found that victim-controlled preosecution resulted in lower recidivism
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effectiveness of mandatory (victimless) prosecution not supported
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sentencing
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Dutton (1995) estimates 25 of every 100 arrests lead to some sort of punishment
for the batterer.
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incarceration may be harmful to the batterer's victim in terms of lost
economic support and loss of relationship,
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Tolman (1996) suggests a variety of sanctions which may reduce some of
these incongruities, including
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day incarceration,
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weekend incarceration,
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home confinement,
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intensive probation,
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community service,
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batterer intervention programs, and
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restitution.
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Batterers Intervention Programs--shaped
by the twin forces of feminist philosophy and the need for practical thinking
and behaving skills necessary to choose non-violence.
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Goals
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Justice--Extending
criminal sanctions and accountability
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Rehabilitation--Changing
individual attitudes and behavior
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Public Safety--Victims
are "the real clients"
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Community Intolerance for Partner
Violence--The
community is the "client"
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Anger Management
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Anger is a label attached to arousal, and is not itself a primary emotion
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anger does not "well up and explode"
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anger does not cause violence, but the individual's interpretation of what
is causing their anger determines their behavior
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cognitive appraisal of the meaning of a situation determines how an individual
will react in the situation
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if a man perceives an injustice, they may view
that injustice as causing their bad feelings, their anger will therefore
be justified
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if, in addition to their anger being justified by injustice, they believe
that violence is an acceptable response to injustice, the risk of violence
is greatly increased
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this approach to understanding violence suggests that intervention can
be directed at
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altering individual's meaning-making ability (cognitive
skill)
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altering beliefs and attitudes justifying violence under conditions of
injustice (belief systems)
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increasing individual's skill at resolving situations where they do feel
conflict, injustice (social skill)
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increasing an individuals support system to moderate the effects of belief
and skill deficits (social support)
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changing social conditions which incubate violence (social
change)
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Beliefs about the acceptability of violence
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31% of all men and 25% of all women believe it is ok to batter a wife under
certain conditions (Finn)
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in a study of 1,700 South Carolina high school students, 57% of girls and
65% of boys believe it is acceptable for a man to force a woman to have
sex if they have been dating for more than 6 months. (Teens express themselves,
1988)
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Typical Elements of Batterer Programs
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(Illinois Protocol for Partner Abuse Intervention Programs)
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Evaluation
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Contact with victims
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safety checks
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giving information
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firewall paradigm
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Orientation process
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Contract for services
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Group-based program
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Decrease a batterer's sense of isolation and beliefs in his exceptionality
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Improve interpersonal skills
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Offer mutual aid
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Identify and develop expertise in critical areas
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Maximize confrontation of denial and inappropriate behavior
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Develop a norm for personal and social change
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Maximize rewards for change (Stordeur & Still, 1989)
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Increase negative male bonding
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Provide a celebration of men's dominance over women
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Enhance misogyny
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Promote collusion between therapist and batterer
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Increase the risk to victims
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Program completion criteria
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time served v. competence [handout]
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Post-completion maintenance
[less typical]
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Batterer Groups
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1½ to 2½ hours
for 16 (Illinois minimum) to 52 weeks
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Semi-structured (use a curriculum)
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Mixed competency &
time-served approach
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Co-facilitated (male-female
team)
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Popular Models: Duluth, EMERGE
(MA), DAP (MN), RAVEN (MO), AMEND (CO)
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Interventions For Batterers
To Worry About (Good programs, but not sufficient for batterers)
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Self help groups
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Couples counseling
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Anger management programs
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Anything with "Compassion" or
"Forgiveness" in the title
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Men's personal growth groups
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Psychotherapy
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Medication
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Pastoral programs
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Current
Issues Facing Batterer Programs
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Effectiveness
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Criminal justice v. mental health
perspectives
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Standards for batterer programs
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Link between batterer programs
and other community services, especially programs for battered women,substance
abuse agencies, and mental health agencies
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Cultural competence of batterer
programs and their staff
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Women arrested for domestic
violence
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Programs for gay batterers and
lesbian batterers
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Future of Abuser Services
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Develop new knowledge of battering
and related forms of social control
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Extend services to underserved
populations
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Develop culturally competent
interventions
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Advocate for responsible fatherhood
across cultures
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Redefine role of batterer programs
as only one of a number of inter