Batter's Intervention is not Effective in Reducing Domestic Abuse

Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this project is to present an annotated bibliography on select articles focusing on the ineffectiveness of batterer intervention programs are not effective in changing the attitudes and behaviors of the batterers. Methodology: We used the EBSCO and JSTOR databases to search for the articles included in the project. The keywords used for searching the articles were "Batterer Intervention Programs", and the focus was on original research only, which excluded review, editorials, and book reviews. Results: We found out that current batterer intervention programs are not effective in altering the attitude of the batterer and there is need to have alternative programs. The programs mostly have high attrition rates and most individuals will not complete the programs, making them less effective. Conclusion: Incorporating other methodologies into the batterer intervention program like neuroscience would be beneficial to the program. Having motivators for the batterers could also assist in reducing the relapse rate.
The Effectiveness of Batterer Intervention Programs
Research has shown that at least 85 percent of all domestic violence victims are women and about 1.5 million women located in the United states do experience sexual or physical violence from a current intimate partner each year. Almost half of the female victims do sustain an injury at one point in the course of the abuse. It has been shown that 41 percent of the victims will require medical care as a result of the physical assault from their partners. There are also long-term effects associated with domestic violence like gastrointestinal disorders, adverse pregnancy outcomes, increased number of unintended pregnancies, decreased control over contraception, and chronic pelvic pain. There have been massive efforts and expenditure in the country going into offering services and support for domestic violence. However, there has been a lag in focusing on the domestic violence batterers-individuals who cause the problem- in the areas of prevention and intervention.
A quick search of the EBSCO database in 2017 indicates that there are about 5602 articles on the topic of domestic violence, but only 947 articles on domestic violence batterers. The lack of enough research and focus on batterers has resulted in little being known about the quality of a good batterer intervention program. However, even with this little information, there are formal care studies that have been developed and they have been implemented across the country in numerous states. The lack of information on what would constitute an effective program has not hindered the implementation and different standards have been implemented in different states.
Batterer intervention programs are not effective in changing the attitudes of the batterers and they have minor effects on behavior changes. There have been various studies that have shown many of the batterers will relapse even after undergoing the 24 weeks programs as mandated by the courts. This means that in as much as batterers are forced to undergo the batterer intervention program, most of them will either not complete the program or those who complete are highly likely to relapse. Therefore, the programs are not effective in modifying the attitudes of the batterers and there is need to reevaluate them and establish how they can be more effective. Going through this paper one will be able to see the different interventions implemented for batterers and how effective they have been. The reader will also gain a clear understanding of why the programs are not effective.
Methodology
The articles analyzed in the paper were all located from the EBSCO and JSTOR databases using the terms "Batterer Intervention Programs". All the articles had to be recently published with a cutoff being made for articles published prior to 2012. This ensured that we were analyzing articles that are recent and that were researching recent development in the batterer intervention programs. Using older articles could also be effective, but since there was enough research to support our thesis from these recent articles we opted to only use articles not older than five years. All the articles included in the annotated bibliography were empirical studies reporting original research. This allowed us to better understand how the research was carried out and identified how effective the specific methodology for intervention employed worked. We excluded all articles that had words like review and or meta-analytic review. This is because articles that had these terminologies in their titles indicate that they were reviewing a particular research article or different research articles, which would not allow us to have full information regarding our current topic.
Annotation Format
This is a descriptive, evaluative annotated bibliography, where the annotations are organized based on their relevance to our thesis that batterer intervention programs are not effective in changing batterers attitudes and behavior. For each annotation, a complete citation of the article is provided followed by a descriptive evaluation of the article. This allows the reader to better understand what the article is researching and the outcomes of the research. Also, the relevance of the article to our topic will be pointed out. The annotations will briefly indicate the findings of the study, and their relation to our thesis and the other articles reviewed. We will also point out any limitations that the authors or researchers have noted in their studies.
Results
Buttell, F. P., Powers, D., & Wong, A. (2012). Evaluating predictors of program attrition among women mandated into batterer intervention treatment. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(1), 20-28
The purpose of this study was to establish the differences between women who complete and those who drop out of a 26-week batterer intervention program (Buttell, Powers, & Wong, 2012). The study used a nonequivalent control group design. The researchers established that there are psychosocial risk factors associated with increased program attrition in women and men batterers. This risk is the reason why many people do not complete the programs and this renders the program non-effective. Even when the attendance of the program has been court mandated, the levels of drop out are still high. The researchers were faced with a limitation in that they could only focus on the batterers who had been sent into the program and they could not follow-up on the individuals once they dropped out. This is an article published in 2012, making it a recent and we are using it because it demonstrates the recent developments on the topic of batterer intervention programs. The article was published in the Research on Social Work Practice published by Sage Publications, which is a social work journal that focuses on evaluation research, especially in social work practices. The journal is intended for social workers and professionals in the field of social work. The relevance of the article is that clearly demonstrates that the batterer intervention programs are not effective as it is expected and that there are high levels of attrition amongst the participants.
The article analyses the impact of court mandated treatment programs for intimate partner batterers. The article notes that most of the participants had suspended sentences (Fernández-Montalvo, Echauri, Martinez, Azcarate, & Lopez-Goñi, 2015), which would mean they were more likely to complete the program and reform in order to eliminate their sentences. The article was published in 2015 and this demonstrates the effectiveness of motivating the offenders to reform as part of the program. The article is published by Springer Publishing in the Violence and Victims journal, which is a peer-reviewed journal that features cutting-edge and evidence based studies of research, theory, policy, and clinical practice that are related to all forms of interpersonal violence and victimization. The journal is intended for professional in the field of social work, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, law, criminology, medicine, and nursing. This article is beneficial to our thesis because it demonstrates that without any motivators, BIP might not be effective and the batterers are likely to recede.
Hamel, J., Ferreira, R. J., & Buttell, F. (2017). Gender and batterer intervention: Implications of a program evaluation for policy and treatment. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(4), 405-412.
The article analyses the impact that gender has on the completion of 52-week batterer program (Hamel, Ferreira, & Buttell, 2017). The study used a post-test design only and compared completer to dropouts and men to women. The study established that there were no significant differences between gender in terms of completing the program. The articles also establish that women are more likely to report they engaged in severe physical abuse than men. The study was published in 2017, and this being a more recent study it has been conducted to analyze the effectiveness of new BIP strategies. The study was published by Sage Publication in the Research on Social Work Practice journal, which is a social work journal that focuses on evaluation research, especially in social work practices. The journal is intended for social workers and professionals in the field of social work. The article demonstrates that with advancement in BIP there is still no improvement in the outcomes.
Herman, K., Rotunda, R., Williamson, G., & Vodanovich, S. (2014). Outcomes from a Duluth model batterer intervention program at completion and long term follow-up. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 53(1), 1-18.
This is a Duluth model batterer intervention program that was conducted to establish the rate recidivism amongst the participants of the program. Follow-up was carried out 9 years after the completion of the program and data was obtained from public records (Herman, Rotunda, Williamson, & Vodanovich, 2014). The researchers established that one-third of the participants had eventually reoffended. This study was published in 2014 and demonstrates the need to have more effective interventions. The article was published by Taylor & Francis in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, which is a peer-reviewed journal that presents empirical research and critical analyses of criminal justice program policies, practices, and services. The journal is intended for professionals working with individuals involved in the criminal justice systems. This article does support our hypothesis that BIP is not effective and it goes further to state that there is need to have more effective and coordinated intervention programs.
Holtrop, K., Scott, J. C., Parra-Cardona, J. R., McNeil Smith, S., Schmittel, E., & Larance, L. Y. (2017). Exploring factors that contribute to positive change in a diverse, group-based male batterer intervention program: using qualitative data to inform implementation and adaptation efforts. Journal of interpersonal violence, 32(8), 1267-1290.
The study examined the experiences and perceptions of participants of a diverse group-based male BIP in order to understand the factors leading towards positive change (Holtrop et al., 2017). The study used interviews to collect data and the results were analyzed using grounded theory. The researchers established that the program was effective and that participants mostly reported positive outcomes from the group-based BIP. However, the study participants were minimal and this might have an effect on the results. The study was published by Sage Publication in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, which focuses on domestic violence, child sexual abuse, rape, and other violent crimes. The journal publishes quantitative and qualitative articles that employ the scientific method to study interpersonal violence. The journal is intended for researchers and professionals in the field of domestic violence. This article counters our thesis, but it also acknowledges that it had a small sample.
Mills, L. G., Barocas, B., & Ariel, B. (2013). The next generation of court-mandated domestic violence treatment: A comparison study of batterer intervention and restorative justice programs. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 9(1), 65-90
The study analyzed the effectiveness of BIP and Circle of Peace (CP) programs with an attempt to determine the most effective program to reduce recidivism amongst batterers. The researchers established that CP was most effective because it had lower rates of re-arrest of the offenders (Mills, Barocas, & Ariel, 2013). The researchers used a randomized controlled trial that had 152 domestic violence cases. The study was published in 2013 and it incorporates new methodologies discovered for handling batterers. The article was published in the Journal of Experimental Criminology that is published by Springer and it focuses on high-quality experimental research in the development of evidence based crime and justice policy. The journal is targeted towards professionals in criminology and crime, political science, and social sciences. This article clearly supports our thesis in that it shows that BIP is not as effective as everyone believes it to be and there is need to establish other programs.
Siegel, J. P. (2013). An expanded approach to batterer intervention programs incorporating neuroscience research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 14(4), 295-304.
This article argues for the inclusion of neuroscience treatment strategies when developing BIP. The authors have shown the effectiveness of neurobiology, especially when dealing with the underlying disorder that a batterer could be suffering from (Siegel, 2013). The article presents a case for the relationship between emotional regulation impairment, childhood trauma, and intimate partner violence with batterers. The article was published in 2013 and it offers new insights into methods for developing new BIP strategies. The article was published by Sage Publication in the Trauma, Violence, & Abuse journal, which is devoted to the organization, synthetization, and expansion of knowledge on all forms of trauma, abuse, and violence. This is a practitioner oriented journal intended for professionals and advanced students of clinical training working with any form of abuse, trauma, and violence. This article offers suggestions on how BIP could be improved in order to reduce the rate of recidivism and make the programs more effective.
Conclusion
In this paper, we have been able to demonstrate that BIP is not effective in changing the attitudes of the batterers and in most cases, they do relapse. It is vital that we establish more effective programs to ensure that batterers are well rounded and covered. When one completes a program, there should not be a chance that they might relapse and if this is the case then the program is not as effective. The annotated bibliography presented comprises of different studies all demonstrating that the programs have not been effective. The recommendation given in most of them is that there is need to revise and establish more effective programs, in order to reduce the cases of domestic violence. There is also need to increase research on batterers to ensure that others are able to understand why they are violent and abusive to their partners or children.


References
Buttell, F. P., Powers, D., & Wong, A. (2012). Evaluating predictors of program attrition among women mandated into batterer intervention treatment. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(1), 20-28.
Fernández-Montalvo, J., Echauri, J. A., Martinez, M., Azcarate, J. M., & Lopez-Goñi, J. J. (2015). Impact of a court-referred psychological treatment program for intimate partner batterer men with suspended sentences. Violence and victims, 30(1), 3-15.
Hamel, J., Ferreira, R. J., & Buttell, F. (2017). Gender and batterer intervention: Implications of a program evaluation for policy and treatment. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(4), 405-412.
Herman, K., Rotunda, R., Williamson, G., & Vodanovich, S. (2014). Outcomes from a Duluth model batterer intervention program at completion and long term follow-up. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 53(1), 1-18.
Holtrop, K., Scott, J. C., Parra-Cardona, J. R., McNeil Smith, S., Schmittel, E., & Larance, L. Y. (2017). Exploring factors that contribute to positive change in a diverse, group-based male batterer intervention program: using qualitative data to inform implementation and adaptation efforts. Journal of interpersonal violence, 32(8), 1267-1290.
Mills, L. G., Barocas, B., & Ariel, B. (2013). The next generation of court-mandated domestic violence treatment: A comparison study of batterer intervention and restorative justice programs. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 9(1), 65-90.
Siegel, J. P. (2013). An expanded approach to batterer intervention programs incorporating neuroscience research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 14(4), 295-304.