Research Opportunity-Women’s batterer intervention best practices
I received an email requesting assistance from a researcher in Australia. I offered to post her request in hopes there are others who can provide input into program development.
“I’m currently seeking treatment providers views about the treatment needs of women who use force in intimate relationships and what constitutes best practice in this area to help inform the development of an evidence based treatment program for such women fit for the Australian context, where no programs currently exist. I would be extremely grateful if you would complete my survey. It takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and can be found at: http://surveys.utas.edu.au/index.php/513266?lang=en
Kind regards Robyn Yaxley University of Tasmania”
Oct 06, 2018 @ 19:01:04
Robyn:
The research literature finds very few differences across gender with respect to the primary risk factors for perpetration of intimate partner violence, nor does it find any meaningful differences in terms of rates of violence, use of power and control, motivation, or impact of witnessing violence on children. There is of course, a considerable difference in the consequences of IPV on victims, with women incurring serious injuries at a much higher rate than men. However, there are some differences across gender in terms of how male and female group clients interact with one another, the extent to which they process and express emotions, and the issues of most concern to them (e.g., women are more likely to have issues with child care and work). My own program, Alternative Behavior Choices, takes this research into account. The curriculum is the same for the men and women, with the same didactic material and workbook exercises, but our facilitators are flexible in how they teach the curriculum (for example, facilitators usually spend less time teaching the female clients about basic emotions). If you go to the ADVIP home page and click on the link to the 2016 Conference findings, you will find a lengthy article on proposed batterer intervention standards for the United States. It includes a section on the treatment needs of female offenders. If you want to know more about my program, I would be happy to send you an article describing it. My e-mail is: johnmhamel@comcast.net.