Male IPV Perpetrators' Perspectives on Facilitation of Batterer Intervention Program: Results From a 2-Year Study

Challenges to an Individualized Approach Toward Batterers Intervention Programs in the Context of Coordinated Community Response to the Intimate Partner Violence in Lithuania

Purpose

Although batterers' intervention programs (BIPs) constitute an important part of the coordinated response to intimate partner violence (IPV) and contribute to increasing the perpetrators' accountability and keeping victims safe, the effectiveness of these programs is still debated. Only recently has the focus of these debates shifted away from researching outcomes by measuring overall program effectiveness toward specific qualities of interventions across program models that may be effective for the distinct client (Babcock et al., Clinical Psychology Review, 23(8), 1023-1053, 2004; Zarling et al., Psychology of Violence, 9(3), 257-266, 2019). The discussion on the practical implementation of BIPs was supplemented by various significant concepts emerging from new empirical findings, such as differential treatment, motivational interviewing, and effective facilitator-client alliances (Hamel et al., Partner Abuse, 11(4), 387-414, 2020; Holtrop et al., Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(8), 1267-1290, 2017). This paper aimed to address some of the abovementioned concepts by identifying challenges that arise during the implementation of BIPs in Lithuania.

Methods

Using qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with BIPs facilitators, BIPs attendees, and various stakeholders, the paper discusses how to contribute to more effective BIPs outcomes.

Results

According to this study, the process of implementing BIPs in Lithuania should be systematized by incorporating existing instruments, such as motivational interviewing, risk-based assessment, and differential treatment, evidence-based programs focused on different theoretical approaches, and forms of implementation.

Conclusion

The study found that the consistency and integrity of the entire BIP implementation process should be prioritized, and institutional cooperation in Lithuania needs to be improved to achieve a successful coordinated response to intimate partner violence.

IPV Perpetrator Groups: Client Engagement, and the Role of Facilitators

Based on the emerging literature being developed in Motivational Interviewing that suggests certain group process factors and facilitator attributes predict treatment outcomes, this study sought to investigate the relationship between both client and facilitator ratings of the batterer intervention group experience. This study presents data from 16 group facilitators drawn from five agencies and 175 clients being served by these facilitators. The data gathered included both facilitator ratings of clients (i.e., Group Engagement Measure-GEM) and client ratings of facilitators and the group experience (i.e., Client Rating of Facilitator-CRF, Client Perceived Benefits of Group-CPBG). Results indicate that facilitators rated clients as being engaged in the group process across all the domains assessed by the GEM and that clients viewed the facilitators and group experiences favorably as assessed by the CRF and CPBG. There was no significant correlation between the GEM and CRF or the GEM and CPBG, but there was a strong, positive correlation between the CRF and CPBG. The results here support previous research findings suggesting a strong correlation between client engagement in the therapeutic process, based on their perception of the facilitator, and their perceived benefits of the group experience. Implications of the findings for improving empirical investigations of the batterer intervention group experience were explored and discussed.

The Pursuit of Research-supported Treatment in Batterer Intervention: The Role of Professional Licensure and Theoretical Orientation for Duluth and CBT Programs

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to understand the importance of research-supported practice for batterer intervention programs.

METHODS

This study applied descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses to a novel dataset from the Domestic Violence Perpetrator Treatment Survey (N = 411). This was a 69-item survey developed by domestic violence providers and researchers to understand the role of research-supported practice in the treatment of intimate partner violence (IPV).

RESULTS

This study found statistically significant differences between Duluth oriented programs and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) oriented programs with respect to the importance of research-supported practices and motivational interviewing, a strategy found effective in treatment of IPV by extant research.

DISCUSSION

There appears to have been an evolution among practitioners toward more eclecticism, and an acknowledgment that programs should be research-supported.

CONCLUSION

Implications of this study for education and treatment are discussed.