Batterer Intervention Programs: Where Do We Go From Here?
June 2003This NIJ Special Report describes the most common types of batterer intervention programs and evaluates two recent studies
of batterer intervention programs in Broward County, Florida and Brooklyn, New York. Evaluations of both programs call into
question the effectiveness of such programs in either changing batterer attitudes or behaviors. However, researchers in the
Broward study did find that batterers who were employed, married, owned their own homes, or otherwise had a stake in the community
were less likely to reoffend. Although the Broward study was marred by low victim response rates, collection of information
from multiple sources, each reaching similar conclusions, bolstered researchers' confidence in the results. The Brooklyn study
showed that men who attended treatment sessions for a longer period (26 weeks compared with 8 weeks) committed fewer new violent
acts; however, batterers were more likely to complete the shorter program. The study left open the question of whether batterer
intervention programs alter batterers' attitudes and behaviors or merely suppress violence behavior for the duration of the
study.
Full text: