Chapter 11 Discussion Questions

Chapter 11: Adult Intimate Partner Violence: Practice, Policy, and Prevention

Lecture Outline

I. Abused Partners: Practice, Policy, and Prevention: Primarily Women

a. Agency Practices for Battered Women

i. Isolation of Battered Mothers

1. battered groups compared with nonbattered groups received financial help from more family members

2. women in the severely battered women group had significantly fewer friends, fewer contacts with friends, fewer long-term relationships, and fewer friends who really listened to them

3. very violent batterers successfully isolated their victims from their friends, so female victims usually need more social support

ii. Social Support for Battered Women

1. availability of individuals who can provide various relational elements deemed helpful to people experiencing stress

2. types of social support

a. instrumental (e.g., baby sit)

b. emotional (nonjudgmental listening)

c. informational (find the local shelter)

3. social support helps to ameliorate the negative impact of battering on women’s physical and mental health, as well as on their ability to hold down a job

4. helps embolden a battered victim to redefine marriage as a relationship in which violence is not allowed

5. helps transform a battered woman into a self-saver rather than a relationship-saver or a husband-changer

iii. What types of social support help?

1. friends and family members made far more positive responses than negative ones

2. helpful responses toward battered women

a. offered a place to stay

b. urged victims to call police or a lawyer

c. urged them to seek counseling

3. negative responses toward battered women

a. changed the subject when listening

b. spent less time with the victim

c. insinuated that the survivor was stupid

d. refused to help in any way

e. advised a woman to stay with her abuser

f. gave mixed messages

g. provided a low level of social support

i. women survivors given such messages may experience heightened PTSD or depression

iv. Helpful agency action for women victims

1. battered women want to have more control when working with staff

2. battered women need staff to listen to their opinions before taking action

v. Improving shelter services for MFIPV victims

1. obtain a comprehensive abuse history

2. screen female victims for alcohol/drug abuse

3. have policies covering alcohol/drug problems

4. have staff or volunteers with training in alcohol/drug

vi. Admittance policies to shelters

1. shelter staff needs to change their policies concerning women arrested for FMIPV

2. battered women should be eligible for shelter residence even if they were arrested because of FMIPV – abandon policy of rejecting all arrested women

3. many times battered women who strike back are not true female batterers

vii. Teaching parenting skills to battered women in a shelter

1. offer a variety of services that might help the women find jobs, obtain health care, protection orders

2. offer parenting skills classes by helping battered women

3. help battered women understand the terrible damage that exposure to interparental violence is doing to their children

4. adoption of parenting skills might make mothers eligible for custody once again if Child Protective Services has removed children from the home

viii. Transitional Supportive Housing for battered women

1. money is need to expand services to battered women to enable them to avoid homelessness

2. homelessness may force them to return to an abusive partner by offering a safe home

3. have supportive staff around the women and give them the time and assistance necessary to rebuild their lives

b. Psychotherapists’ Practices

i. Practice for helping MFIPV victims

1. General Counseling Topics for Battered Women

a. counselors work on safety planning by helping victims to think through various actions that will facilitate an emergency escape, such as having money hidden somewhere, having a bag packed, and locating a safe home where they and their children may reside temporarily

2. Clinical screening

a. screen clients for male-to-female IPV, substance abuse, and trauma symptoms as a universal practice and as codified into law

b. screen clients to identify their specific needs

3. Basic counseling goals for battered women

a. help them to define the meaning of male partner violence, to understand what causes it, and to be aware of the role it plays in their lives

b. emphasize that MFIPV is wrong

c. impart information and options for managing MFIPV

d. ask each woman individually what she needs/wants

e. communicate continuing support for her regardless of her decisions, such as to return to the abusive partner

f. help each woman develop a safety plan

4. Alcohol/drug treatment for battered victims

a. sobriety treatment is urgent for many MFIPV victims

b. counselors need to avoid substituting Alcoholics Anonymous or Al-Anon for shelter programs

5. Remaking battered victims’ belief system

a. help victims to stop believing that they caused or can stop the abuse and to make different attributions about the causes of male IPV

6. Dangers for battered women in leaving the abuser

a. apprise women of the added danger they face when leaving an abusive relationship

b. recommend safety precautions to separated and divorced women

c. shelters should offer IPV victims self-defense training

7. Brain-based psychotherapy for battered women

a. understand and apply information about the brain’s role in developing problem feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and how to modify them

b. understand which methods such as narrative therapy or extinction can diminish and replace the client’s painful memories

c. keep abreast of new drug treatments for diminishing fear

d. send clients for routine medical screening when indicated

8. Individualized treatment for MFIPV victims

a. the “one size fits all” approach may be ineffective in reducing MFIPV

b. intervention should be tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual woman and her family

c. thorough assessment and a multimodal approach including advocacy support, medical intervention, and cognitive-behavioral or psychodynamic counseling should be provided

9. MFIPV victims’ attachment and grief

a. acknowledge not only the external constraints that prevent women from leaving abusive partners, but also the women’s positive feelings toward their partner and the relationship

b. help counselors to deal with the perpetrator’s positivity because of their difficulty in understanding the client’s life and the positive side of the victim’s relationship

10. Regulating closeness to the abuser

a. help battered women gain awareness of their own and their partner’s attachment needs and related pursuit-distancing strategies

11. Coping styles of MFIPV victims

a. teach problem-focused coping styles for positive results in coping and help-seeking

i. higher levels of personal and environmental resources (e.g., babysitters, car)

ii. greater economic resources

iii. social support (e.g., friends who listens)

b. avoidance coping styles are not helpful: they occur among women who suffered childhood abuse

12. Provide personal empowerment strategies to battered women

a and control over frightening events

13. Forgiveness – A good or inadequate approach?

a. realize that a victim’s decision to forgive the abuser is a real possibility

b. explain the difference between forgiving, pardoning, forgetting, and condoning

c. examine different cultural definitions of forgiveness

ii. Policy for helping battered women

1. There is much discrimination against women

a. disallow practices in shelters and elsewhere that undermine women’s attempts to achieve independence

b. treat victims as experts in guiding policy

2. Discrimination against women occurs in many other settings

a. men and women rated the male professor’s lecture more positively than the female professor’s lecture even if the lectures were identical

b. male students’ sexist ratings of the lectures were significantly associated with the students’ traditional and stereotyped attitudes toward women

3. Discrimination against women in housing

a. Some public housing establishments establish rules that allow the eviction of tenants involved in violence, even if the tenants are the victims

b. monitor and expand federal mandates to stop evicting female IPV victims

4. Discrimination against women in the court system

a. address debilitating discriminatory practices and policies

b. make necessary changes against judges who may disregard laws passed by legislatures to protect women and children but suffer no adverse consequences to their careers

5. Legal changes needed to protect battered women

a. give more attention on how policies can be changed to help women trying to escape from an abuser who has been stalking and threatening them

b. it may be necessary to advise endangered women to relocate as the only possible solution because the criminal justice system cannot protect them

c. keep battered women’s whereabouts confidential

d. Social Security will now consider issuing new Social Security numbers to female victims who need them to escape their abusers. New numbers allow victims to open new bank accounts and to obtain new driver’s licenses

e. point out special actions that abusers might take to find a relocated victim found in Betsy Ramsey Enterprises guide booklets (e.g., hire a private detective)

f. help in the relocation process by expanding battered victims’ rights to leave their jobs (which may be necessary to escape their abusers) and still be eligible to file for unemployment insurance

g. make it possible for battered women to be eligible to take time off from work under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act

6. Economic Support and Freedom from Battering: Offer financial resources and social support needed to surmount the host of institutional and social obstacles that impede their progress toward self-sufficiency

7. Rewrite laws discriminating against women in the workplace

a. Equalize pay for men and women – women still earn 77 cents for every dollar a man ears

b. Pay discrimination is not warranted by women’s quality of work, absenteeism levels, time-off needs, and so forth.

c. Inadequate pay forces women to return to abusers

d. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law designed to eliminate a 180-day statute of limitations on bringing a gender-based unequal pay discrimination suit passed Congress in 2010

8. Policies of corporations that can help MFIPV victims

a. provide sufficient funds and be willing to assist battered victims

b. co-workers can function as a vital element of social support and lessen battered women’s isolation

c. try to recognize signs that employees are victims of abuse and, even if they are aware of a problem, offer supportive services

d. make an effort to support employees who are victims of male partner abuse

e. routinely protect women from losing their jobs because of victimization-related absenteeism (e.g., for court appearances or medical treatments)

f. legislators need to enact laws requiring employers to assist employees who are being threatened, stalked, or harassed at work by taking preventive safety measures

g. offer both tangible and emotional support

h. transfer abused workers to other locations

9. Shelter approaches to economic-skills learning

a. help abuse victims improve their skills by role-playing job interviewing techniques and assertion skills

b. help women enhance their education by going to school and thus equalizing gender power to some extent

c. help improve the financial status of custodial parents

d. strengthen government and criminal justice agencies’ efforts to make all noncustodial parents meet their child support obligations

10. Training unskilled males

a. low-income men need programs that offer them support, incentives, and positive affirmation, so they can better support their children

b. help unskilled males become more educated and employable

c. provide parenting classes for fathers

11. Legislative needs of MFIPV victims

a. strengthen existing laws intended to protect women against sex discrimination or victim-related discrimination

b. society should demand the enforcement of those laws

c. need to increase efforts to protect female victims and their children so that victims can safely work

d. design policies aimed at bolstering battered women’s income and at providing them with job support

e. continue to evaluate the outcomes of legislative changes

12. Victim Services – They have become more accessible (Table 11.2)

a. They need specific improvements

b. Welfare to Work (WtW) programs

i. help women find any job and exit welfare

ii. successfully reduce welfare rolls but may not help battered women

c. Needed changes in welfare

i. obtain appropriate training for welfare staff

1. change negative and rude attitudes toward welfare recipients

2. monitor workers’ implementation of FVO

ii. mandate evaluations of welfare departments’ policies and take action as needed

iii. legislators need to raise the minimum wage, make after-school programs available, and establish an earned income tax credit

iv. use welfare benefits as an adjunct to the income of women with low-paying jobs

d. Greater focus on MFIPV

i. focus more intensely on these victims and make referrals for their treatment

ii. take a more supportive, rather than a blaming attitude toward abused mothers – should improve the lives of the children

e. Misguided “wedfare” programs

i. George Bush stated that the goal of welfare policy is building and preserving families

ii. the Heritage Foundation adopted this “family values” orientation

iii. the assumption is that marriage is a safe haven for women

iv. data do not support the idea that marriage is a safe haven

v. there is a great need to recognize the growing diversity of family structures, such as same-sex unions or elective single parenting

f. Hiring and training welfare workers

i. It is necessary to review of hiring standards of welfare departments

ii. basic skills training in several areas, such as being supportive and positive, knowing about other IPV resources, being flexible, knowing how to present referrals, and protecting the client’s confidentiality

iii. departments should develop and use a short screening instrument to detect MFIPV

iv. train welfare workers to discuss the women’s fear and physical harm

v. workers should help clients develop safety plans

13. Health care providers and battered women

a. Assess, intervene, and appropriately refer battered women

b. Medical screening needs

i. expand routine IPV screening for women to include medical offices, clinics, and other areas beyond the emergency room

ii. pay close attention to suspicious injuries manifested by pregnant or older women

iii. identify mild traumatic brain injuries

c. Mandated identification of battered women in the emergency room; emergency room personnel “had to identify” battered women (law)

i. tell her that abuse is illegal, give her information about abuse, and arrange for supportive follow-up

ii. publish booklets for doctors’ use in addressing family violence

d. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

i. has developed more surveillance (monitoring) systems which provide extremely valuable information

ii. is gathering data about gender, relationships of perpetrator/offenders, types/locations of injuries, and other vital information

iii. is adding their treatment records to national data bases, such as the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

e. Medical training needs of doctors

i. Need training to be effective in screening and referring battered women for assistance

ii. need training to avoid non-nurturing responses, such as distancing, blaming the victim, and suggesting that the symptoms are not real

iii. medical psychologists need to improve their own knowledge base and then learn how best to train doctors

iv. doctors need to recognize the non-physical injury health repercussions of MFIPV

v. doctors should investigate further when patients present with problems closely linked to abuse such as PTSD and depression

vi. they need to close the gap between knowing how to screen for IPV and knowing what to do to help the victim

vii. behavioral scientists need to inform medical students about the dynamic of IPV and how they can contribute to the eradication of family violence

c. Prevention Strategies for IPV

i. College prevention possibilities

1. require entering freshmen to attend violence prevention classes covering partner violence and rape

2. fraternities and sororities could conduct antiviolence programs

3. universities to offer more personal relationship classes

4. counseling staff or others could provide a 20-minute minimum oral presentation to university students about domestic violence

ii. Public awareness programs needs

1. try to make the public responsive to the plight of female IPV victims

2. provide some public awareness campaigns aimed at preventing victim-blaming

3. obtain feedback from victims about programs – evaluate

4. messages should have focus on enhancing early identification, empowerment, and help seeking

5. public awareness campaigns emphasizing human rights

iii. The PREVENT program: a method for educating practitioners

1. identifies functioning teams of practitioners from within social service organizations (e.g., domestic violence, rape crisis)

2. asks the practitioner participants and a coach to develop an individualized program to take back and use in their own organization

3. offers engaging, action-oriented, adult learning, and face-to-face training in the forms of workshops and institutes

4. provides fact sheets, tool kits, and other aids

5. provides information on understanding primary prevention, how to work in the community, and about other associated activities

6. agencies of participants need to provide more time and money to attend training

d. Research on IPV

i. Accomplishments

1. expanded the information available on how to enhance ethical and safety considerations in conducting research

2. covered a wide breadth of topics, such as how to contact women without notifying abusers, the importance of staff training and supervision, and how to adequately compensate women for their participation

3. compiled an exceptionally valuable two-page table of safety protocols that should be mandatory reading for researchers planning to recruit battered women as participants

ii. Needs: researchers need to develop a well-conceptualized set of research projects that call for both qualitative and quantitative studies

II. Abusive Adult Partners: Practice, Policy, and Prevention Issues

a. Attitudes of couples involved in IPV

i. They wish to save their relationships

ii. They favor counseling over jail time

iii. They need to lose the illusion of the stereotypic batterer who is somehow miraculously going to desist without appropriate treatment has well past

iv. Society needs to find effective methods to help or coerce men to stop their IPV

v. Practitioners need to attain a deeper understanding of mental phenomena

b. Practice for MFIPV perpetrators: An urgent call

i. Need for Screening

1. screen men for partner violence

2. recognize the existence of cognitive deficits

3. screen to separate family-only or partner-only batterers from generally violent batterers

4. call upon the justice system and/or medical interventionists

ii. Batterer Counseling - Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs):provide group settings to help partner-violent men work on male-to-male relationships

iii. The Duluth mode (BIP)l: Psychoeducational approaches

1. Approaches – Based on feminist reasoning

a. batterers unlearn socially/culturally reinforced violent behavior directed toward women.

b. resocialize men to abandon patriarchal power and control tactics as well as sexist attitudes toward women

c. transform basic conceptions of masculinity so that males are less violent, less controlling, more loving, more emotionally expressive, more nurturing, and more appreciative of women

2. Shortcomings/needs of the Duluth approach

a. work to better focus on treating men’s psychiatric or medical problems

b. recognize individual differences, useful techniques and treatment formats

c. the approach may falsely reassure victims that they are safe from further abuse

iv. Cognitive-behavioral therapy: applies learning principles to help clients modify behavior recognized as problematic

1. helps a client reduce his hostility toward women by restructuring his thinking

2. helps offenders accomplish goals, such as managing adverse arousal and learning appropriate assertion and problem-solving skills

3. focuses on verbal and communication skills, because improving communication skills would improve the man’s perceptions of his ability to control his aggression toward his female partner

4. can integrate feminist/ cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic group treatment for batterers

v. Anger management programs for IPV perpetrators

1. help client to identify feelings of anger, control inappropriate feelings, and learn how to express such feelings appropriately

2. use cognitive methods and anger reduction techniques (e.g., relaxation training, time-out, anger logs)

3. programs need to determine a point at which anger becomes dysfunctional

vi. Eclectic approaches to batterer treatment

1. give consideration to battered women’s safety

2. provide female victims with safety planning information

3. ethical and legal “duty to warn” potential victims while maintaining their primary duty to maintain confidentiality

vii. Couples’ therapy (family therapy and systems therapy) for IPV

1. focus of treatment to include marital dynamics and the whole family system as a context for marital violence

2. usually improves communication and allow male and female therapists to model nonviolent behavior

3. there are serious shortcomings of some couples’ therapy programs

a. Practitioners usually fail to screen for victim fear – the appropriateness of such a program

b. Critics believe that IPV belongs to the perpetrator and should not be generalized to other family members as if they are part of the problem

viii. Alcohol and Drug—Substance Abuse Treatment

1. 30% of all Americans (not just IPV involved individuals) have engaged in harmful patterns of alcohol abuse

2. there are both genetic and learning components involved in alcohol misuse

3. practitioners should address alcohol treatment

4. debunk the myth that treatment of alcohol or substance abuse problems alone will concomitantly eliminate problems with domestic violence

ix. An integrated substance abuse/domestic violence treatment program: combines batterer treatment with alcohol/drug treatment

1. the program might be especially effective in reducing battering

2. it might be very wise to prescribe appropriate drugs to assist in alcohol cessation

x. Psychiatric-psychotropic medication treatments:

1. use in addition to psychotherapy

2. several drugs might be appropriate for some batterers: anti-anxiety, anti-depression, anti-aggression, and anti-psychotic drugs

xi. Reducing recidivism ―The Plumas Program

1. does not dwell on deficits or changes in sexist attitudes

2. assesses the progress of both male and female intimate partner offenders enrolled in the program

3. assists with goal specificity and goal agreement to promote confidence to work on goals

4. assessments showed that the program was quite successful

xii. The Brooklyn compared comparison study

1. Researchers used a randomized selection procedure

2. The treatment group received a Duluth-type treatment program; the control group received community service

3. Dependent variables included arrest reports , general crime complaints (against the IPV perpetrator), and victim reports of IPV

4. Despite some treatment assignments {errors] (by judges), there was a 44% reduction in recidivism

xiii. Narrow criteria – critics claim that the criteria for assessing the impact of batterer intervention programs is too narrow

1. the top priority of BIPs to promote batterer accountability, rather than to modify rapidly either assault behavior or their attitudes toward women

2. men need to hold themselves accountable (internalization) rather than admit their behavior was harmful

3. to hold men more accountable practitioners should

a. document batterer noncompliance

b. inform the courts of noncompliance

c. terminate batterers who do not comply with BIP requirements

d. keep victims informed of the program’s goals and limitations

e. help perpetrators to stop blaming victims—and hold themselves more accountable

f. to collaborate with other community agencies, such as child welfare

g. to try to maximize victims’ safety

xiv. Meta-analytic reviews

1. A review of quasi-experimental designs showed treatments were slightly effective

2. Another meta-analysis using official reports and victims’ reports showed mixed results, but the findings raised doubts about the program’s effectiveness

3. develop diverse types of batterer treatment programs

4. Challenges in treatment evaluation

a. problems with lack of random assignment

b. attrition (premature termination of treatment, drop-out)

xv. Treatment completion/noncompletion

1. how valid is it to categorize men who received 2 of 22 treatments as “treated?”

2. must categorize batterers as completers or noncompleters – use some reasonable criterion for categorization

3. One analysis indicated that attrition from inquiry about the program to intake session was 73%; from intake to actual counseling was 86%; from inquiry to completion of 12 sessions the drop-out was 93%

4. recognize that relationship between male abusers’ treatment dropout and violent recidivism is high

xvi. Effectiveness of Counseling Programs

1. Consumer satisfaction with BIP treatment – suggestions for improvements

a. have more supportive counseling

b. offer greater safety for women

c. provide more information about the program to victims

2. Batterer intervention program effectiveness-Gondolf

a. Using more refined statistical techniques, one study showed recidivism was reduced by 33% after 1 15-month follow-up period

b. Thus treatment can reduce assaults by batterers, but better statistical analysis is needed to show their effectiveness

3. Other posttreatment changes (Table 11.4) (14 advances)

a. E.g., reduced depression

b. E.g. enhanced coping

c. Policy for IPV Offenders

i. Need for evidence-based treatments

1. know why batterer intervention programs have been unsuccessful and find out how to improve them

2. use empirically-based interventions and evaluate the outcomes empirically

3. improve social work practice

a. reduce attention to a theory-driven research agenda

b. adopt ethical standards supporting the right to effective treatment

c. give up seeking discipline-specific knowledge, and focus on interdisciplinary efforts to enhance treatment effectiveness

ii. Alcoholism policies and drug courts for IPV perpetrators

1. policies should coerce participation in alcohol treatment programs via the use of various rewards including dismissal of the original charges, a reduction in sentence, or a lesser penalty

2. conduct more research to identify the various aspects of successful drug courts, programs, and defendants

3. try to bridge the gap between the publication of research findings and their influence on treatment delivery

4. combine pharmacological and behavioral therapies

5. collaborate among specialists in treating alcoholism, drug abuse, and their related problems

iii. Dealing with dropout problems

1. sharpen attention on predicting dropout from tests given at treatment intake

2. train batterer counselors to use a prediction protocol designed for their particular counseling program

3. monitor more efficiently batterers prone to dropout

4. use American Probation and Parole Association booklet on responding to domestic violence

iv. Community Intervention Programs Elements

1. they offer batterer treatments, women’s support groups, and groups for children exposed to interparental IPV

2. a collaboration by community agencies to fashion especially effective interventions for partner violence

v. Police and counseling treatment personnel collaboration

1. collaborate between police and treatment personnel by examining the court records of men either charged, convicted, or both charged and convicted of IPV-related offenses

2. analyze data on demographics, criminal history, victim injuries, and recidivism measures indicated that the combined efforts of criminal justice and treatment personnel

3. most collaborations have not been especially effective in reducing recidivism

d. Prevention of MFIPV among Perpetrators

i. Public awareness campaigns might prevent some IPV

1. focus on what perpetrators can do to stop their violence

2. aim at diminishing the stigma attached to seeking treatment for depression

3. urge depressed men to seek treatment

4. offer alcohol abuse awareness campaigns

ii. Public educational programs might prevent some IPV

1. offer educational campaigns to offset ill-informed views about the nature and prevalence of IPV

2. provide such programs through courts, social agencies, health care providers, and workplace counselors

3. use adult education as a catalyst for social change

iii. Male socialization: try to develop different expectations of men besides upholding gender role norms (e.g., appear strong) and aggressive behavior

iv. Clinical screening of male IPV perpetrators should help prevent IPV

1. provide routine screening for customary problems as well as providing referrals for medical, psychiatric, and neurobiological examinations

2. recognize male battering IPV in the clients they treat

3. advise crisis intervention when needed

4. call for further assessment

5. address the need for the victim’s protection

6. recognize that IPV might be an issue and respond to the violence in some manner

v. Physician screening of males may prevent some IPV

1. screen of male medical patients for IPV

2. help men accept and follow through with referrals to treatment agencies

3. examine follow through via research – is it effective?

vi. Criminal Justice System response changes might prevent some IPV

1. focus on the safety of battered women and their children

2. monitor offenders post-adjudication to evaluate batterer compliance with judicial orders

3. remove weapons from batterers as required by law

4. establish specialized IPV prosecution units

5. revamp the justice system so that repeat batterers receive longer sentences

vii. Reducing revictimization in Wales—Community collaboration:

1. collaborations aimed at reducing repeat victimization

2. collaboration included the following elements

a. leadership by the police

b. participation by many agencies (e.g., police, probation, women’s advocacy, health, social services, and homelessness)

c. formation of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference

d. members share information and estimate the probability that the victim will be safe (not the perpetrator’s probability of reoffending)

e. update their files from information gained from other agencies

f. develop a plan to ensure the woman’s safety

g. look for a relapse in compliance and work with police to rearrest the man

h. place the woman in emergency housing

viii. Increased court involvement should help prevent IPV

1. men ordered into treatment by the courts are more likely to complete the necessary number of therapeutic sessions

2. batterers should not be diverted into a counseling program and out of the justice system before a plea is entered

3. advocate for court-mandated treatment of male offenders and for courts to remain involved because it allows more control over the batterer

a. judge can sentence the batterer without having to reset a trial

b. maintaining court control allows for more follow

c. courts should routinely apply sanctions to men who fail to attend counseling as directed

d. continued court control allows for monitoring of batterers’ compliance with court orders

ix. Early identification of problems might prevent some IPV

1. diagnose early antisocial personality disorder, excessive alcohol use, and other pathologies

2. institute effective preventative treatment via psychotherapy and medications

3. focus on at-risk populations

4. include children referred to Child Protective Services, children of sheltered women, families contacted by the police for partner violence, and adolescents with conduct disorder or delinquency

5. target young men, because they comprise the largest segment of male IPV offenders and craft distinctive programs for them

x. Prevention of IPV through prison programs: such as prison alcohol treatment

1. could offer IPV preventative/rehabilitative programs

2. consider combining batterer and AOD treatment

xi. Because We Have Daughters-Program to prevent MFIPV

1. help men take advantage of opportunities to strengthen their understanding and connection with their daughters while improving their daughters’ safety

2. help men recognize that their daughters will be safer when all women are safer and that fathers can help create such a change

xii. Profeminist men’s contributions to preventing MFIPV

1. help men see they have a particular role to play in educating other men about the nature of abuse and how men can change

2. provide resources, training, and support to local organizations that are combating battering

3. examine methods for educating men about male partner violence

xiii. Men Stopping Violence program

1. ask BIP graduates to enlist other male “volunteers” to come to a Batterer Intervention Program orientation meeting

2. explain the Men’s Education Program and invite/challenge the volunteers to work with the director to end IPV

3. hold occasional classes in public in order to inform community members about the purposes/processes of BIPs

e. Prevention of FMIPV among Perpetrators

i. Treatment for Female to MFIPV Perpetrators

1. a gender-neutral approach to a gender-specific problem is inappropriate – FMIPV is not identical to MFIPV

2. female IPV intervention programs must address female victimization as well as female perpetration

3. treatments for female offenders should acknowledge that these women form a unique group who are primarily violent resisters

4. specify the types of counseling that might help women avoid further victimization and to avoid the legal consequences of arrests

5. create and offer services designed to improve interpersonal coping skills, conflict management, and emotions/behavior regulation

ii. Screening for FMIPV perpetrator treatment

1. screen female offenders for substance abuse, trauma exposure, and psychopathology

2. integrate mental health treatments into IPV prevention programs for both genders

iii. Female Offender Program –Should Emphasize

1. contextualizing women’s violence

2. responses of the police and the criminal justice system to MFIPV- and how FMIPV perpetrators can cope

3. explore women’s options for action, their accountability for their violence, and their previous choices

iv. Other treatment suggestions for FMIPV perpetrators

1. Focus heavily upon AOD programs

2. focus treatment on mediator variables (e.g., hostility, avoidance coping) that intervene between excessive drinking and female aggression

3. prioritize accountability, to ask motivational questions (i.e., motivational interviewing) about self-defense and retaliation, as well as safety planning

4. help women learn nonviolent responses to male assaultiveness because “there is no excuse for domestic violence”

5. help women obtain psychotropic medications if needed

6. know about two important predictors of female reassault

a. the severity of assault

b. the ending of the abusive relationship

III. Cross-Cultural Practice, Policy and Prevention

a. Practice Issues for Cross-Cultural Clients

i. Need - policy changes before formulating practice guidelines

1. understand that MFIPV is a Human Rights issue

a. write treaties that are presented to all nations with the hope that heads of state will sign the documents.

b. urge the signatories to honor their commitment to abolish the injustice

c. publicize information on any advancements or failures as a type of global feedback

2. legal reform that might prevent/reduce MFIPV

a. judging women as equal to men under the law

b. writing legislation that recognizes women’s human rights, often by transporting statutes from the U.S. directly into another country

c. introducing I-VAWA, an International Violence Against Women Act

i. extends protections to women beyond simply outlawing male-to-female intimate partner violence

ii. bans honor killings, rape as a tool of war, and other gender-based atrocities

3. Health approach to reduce/prevent MFIPV

a. cast family violence as a health problem

b. center efforts on research and interventions geared toward improving women’s health

4. Economic approach to counteract cross-cultural MFIPV

a. Couch family violence within the economic sphere

b. document the high cost of medical outlays, criminal justice expenditures, and welfare expenses for responding to MFIPV

c. helping countries decrease poverty as a way to combat MFIPV

i. inaugurate lending programs, agricultural programs, educational programs,

ii. develop other antipoverty programs

5. use state interventions by providing victims with more resources and options for safety – victim services

a. shelters and health clinics

b. offer asylum to victimized women

ii. Africa: Needs

1. Battered women need more supportive healthcare professionals

2. Medical screenings of their patients for violence

iii. Iran: Needs : do not to make assumptions about the degree of egalitarianism between couples

iv. Israel Needs

1. cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment that encompasses 25 sessions

2. insight therapy for a self-awareness experience

v. Middle Eastern: Needs

1. change social support of male dominance

2. de-emphasize any passages in religious texts

3. partner with community efforts to stop MFIPV

b. Policy Needs (pp. 570-571)

i. change patriarchal, gender-biased beliefs and attitudes that support violence against women

ii. use multi-strategy interventions that promote equity between women and men

iii. provide economic opportunities for women, inform them of their rights,

iv. reach out to men and change societal beliefs and attitudes that permit exploitive behavior

v. rethink and reformulate clerical teachings

IV. Practice, Policy, and Prevention among Immigrant/Ethnic/Racial Groups

a. Practice Needs

i. cultural competence of service providers

ii. Immigrant Batterers’ Intervention Program

1. immigrants enrolled in the non-English groups completed more sessions than immigrants in the mainstream groups

iii. Latina IPV programs

1. culturally competent treatment provided to Latina women court-ordered into a male-oriented batterer

2. intervene with programs to reduce depression

3. use group treatment because it provides mutual aid for Latinas, especially for Latina immigrant women

iv. Interventions for Haitian women

1. have medical, legal, and housing services manned by people who can speak the language

2. have community workshops that explain the role of police, social services, and laws against intimate partner violence

3. have workshops on changing community values regarding violence

4. send trained workers to visit women in their homes in order to educate women

5. offer community-based English language programs

6. help women wanting to leave abusive relationships not to feel ashamed

7. discuss immigration status because it affects everything the woman is doing

8. have a program for religious leaders to encourage them to condemn violence against women

v. Treatment-African American women

1. Example of a culturally specific treatment agency

a. setting that was welcoming to African Americans and presented an atmosphere that indicated staff really cared about the victim’s healing

b. avoided a setting that indicates that staff are just doing a job

c. trained staff to be sensitive to the push/pull of loving a violent partner

d. staff trained not to urge the woman to leave

e. staff did not “wash their hands of the victim” if she was not ready to leave

2. Staff assisted with

a. transportation to and from the group

b. accompaniment to court

c. providing a “big, burly man” to accompany a woman to her home to collect her belongings after she left

d. a holistic approach that included assistance with finding a place to live and getting a job

e. providing culturally appropriate support groups

vi. Native American Indians Practice Issues

1. alcohol/drug programs, jobs program, and medical care and education for HIV program

2. respect privacy and autonomy

3. making informal connections rather than holding formal groups sessions is basic to successful helping

4. knowing the laws and understanding how the “jurisdictional maze” hampers law enforcement

b. Policy Issues for Cross-Cultural IPV

i. Shelters for cross-cultural groups

1. should expand their outreach to meet the needs of marginalized groups

2. shelters should try to keep basic food staples that are common to different cultures, e.g., tortillas and beans for Latinas, chicken teriyaki and rice for Asians; maize and squash for Native American Indians; grits and collard greens for African Americans; pita bread and falafel for Middle Eastern residents

ii. Justice for African American MFIPV victims

1. Consider using a restorative justice approach which views male violence toward women (and other crimes) as a problem affecting both the partners and the community

a. restorative justice programs focus on working together to repair the damage done and heal all the involved parties

b. allow Black women to voice their opinions about how the abuser should be held accountable

2. use discretion when making an arrest: perhaps minor acts of violence could be treated differentially by asking the victim what police response she would prefer

3. health providers should screen African American women for depression because it is highly associated with female IPV victimization

iii. Native American Indians VAWA (violence against women act) policy accomplishments

1. availability of protective orders in 93% of tribal court jurisdictions

2. coordination of law-enforcement services through development of protocols (i.e., what to do when),

3. enhancement of law enforcement response as a result of officer training

4. innovative approaches to tribal prosecution

5. locating shelters on the reservation to make them more accessible

6. identification of safe houses where tribal women can stay for a short period

7. adoption of full faith and credit provisions (i.e., judgments made in one jurisdiction must be considered valid in other jurisdictions)

iv. Southern Asians Policy Needs

1. educational workshops

2. community outreach

3. Internet information

4. literacy classes

5. women’s social groups

6. training for police departments

7. recognizing different religions and different castes

8. making culturally-matched service providers available

v. Latinas’ policy issues

1. more public education that informs members of society about the violence process and actions that they might take to help victims

2. increase family support for abused women

c. Prevention Needs for Cross-Cultural IPV Concerns

i. challenging cultural norms that encourage violence against women

ii. promoting women’s empowerment

iii. political commitment, sustained funding, and engagement with the public at large

iv. Approaches for MFIPV needs

1. finding ways for women to become economically independent

2. screening for partner violence wherever appropriate, followed by referrals

3. training first responders such as medical personnel and law enforcement officers

4. motivating ethnic clergy to preach against MFIPV

5. encouraging women to disclose abuse wherever appropriate

6. adapting public awareness campaigns to meets the needs of ethnic groups

7. legislating changes and implementing existing laws (e.g., equal pay)

8. making a public awareness messages meaningful to the targeted community

9. going beyond simple translations of information from English into another language

10. using “Edutainment” methods in getting messages to the public

V. Practice, Policy, and Prevention among Rural Battered Women

a. Practice Issues for Rural MIPV Victims: Understanding Rural Culture

i. role of the Church, the patriarchal nature of rural society

ii. lack of medical care

iii. lack of transportation and shelters

iv. inadequacy of law enforcement

v. Individual level needs of rural MFIPV victims

1. help in dealing with their extremely stressful emotional burdens

2. learn and use better problem-focused coping alternatives

b. Policy Issues for Battered Rural Women

i. Needs

1. highlighting the injustices suffered by rural women is the first step toward remedying them

2. provide access to shelters, telephones, and transportation

3. criminalizing the dismantling of telephones to prevent someone from calling for assistance

4. medical personnel and law enforcement need training on how better to understand and assist women with problems related to battering

5. training shelter workers to avoid any negative interactions with MFIPV victims because such interactions may appear to be just one more barrier in their quest for safety

ii. Medical screening in rural areas is urgently needed

1. utilize the risk factors identified by the research team

a. older than 25

b. financial problems

c. no education past high school

d. abused as a child

e. non-owner of a home

f. low self-esteem

2. quickly assist abused women with referrals for counseling and other types of assistance

iii. Prosecution of MFIPV Perpetrators

1. despite laws mandating certain rights for victims and witnesses, prosecutors are too short-staffed to provide

a. legal counsel

b. protection from intimidation and harm

c. information concerning the criminal justice process

d. preservation of property and employment

e. reparations or restitution

f. due process in criminal court proceedings

g. treatment characterized by dignity and compassion.

2. average percentage of time staff spent on fulfilling each of these rights varied from 22% to 30%

iv. Funding inequities for services in rural communities

1. shortfalls is state funding result in a disparity in funding priorities

2. rural counties received less than $1 million from VOCA - less than 10% of VAWA funds

v. Collaborations needed for helping MFIPV victims

1. Strengths of collaborations

a. help close the gap in knowledge

b. provide more coverage to large geographic areas

2. Suggestions for collaborations

a. approach faith communities as a resource for a meeting place

b. form cooperative relationships with local sources of transportation

c. make arrangements with taxi services and available law enforcement to provide transportation, and to provide gasoline cards for local gas stations

d. arrange temporary discount rates at local hotels

3. Collaboration: Law enforcement/shelter counselors

a. [Collaborations instigated by shelter advocates encountered many pitfalls- Table 11.5

b. Community Partnership Team

i. police department established a link on their Web site to the Advocates’ office

ii. work on changing police protocols rather than on trying to change police ideology (i.e., police organizations have a patriarchal and military hierarchy)

iii. most effective way to work with the police was to obtain a commitment from the highest levels of the department

c. Prevention of MFIPV in Rural Communities

i. create public awareness campaigns including information about partner abuse and pornography

ii. establish a network of interns in order to provide more victim services

iii. there were some successful programs for victims

1. Cyber Crisis anonymous hotline available 24 hours a day: victims could anonymously ask a question about partner abuse over the Internet

2. programs using existing distance education technology

3. program trained hair stylists to detect signs of abuse and furnish referrals

4. “Have Justice-Will Travel”: Ford Motor Company provided the ex-trucker with a car, laptop, portable printer, and a cell phone so that she could drive through rural enclaves dispensing free legal advice to battered women

VI. Practice, Policy, and Prevention for Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence

a. Practice Needs for Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence (SSIPV)

i. develop special expertise in order to offer services to members of some particular subpopulation

ii. be nonjudgmental, trusting, willing to provide unconditional regard, genuine, and non-blaming services

iii. attend to the victim’s safety and be familiar with gay-friendly resources, and finally try to increase victim empowerment

iv. avoid considering transgendered clients as either moving from male-female or female-to-male as there are many transgendered identities

v. provide access to experienced therapists and same-sex friendly service agencies

vi. avoid erroneous perceptions of same-sex abuse

vii. provide treatment in separate groups from heterosexual and homosexual clients as mandated in 38 of U.S. states

b. Policy Concerns for SSIPV Issues

i. counselors and healthcare workers need specialized training to be of assistance to homosexuals

ii. communities need to become more aware of the needs of the homosexuals and provide social service agencies that are same-sex friendly

c. Prevention of Same-Sex IPV

i. Needs

1. educating the lesbian community about serial abusers in first relationships might prevent the relationships from starting

2. psychological organizations need to take the lead in debunking myths about same-sex relationships

3. initial changes would need to begin with legal protections

ii. Legal protections: Two types of partial legalization exist

1. informal—contracts, will, powers of attorney, etc

2. institutional—domestic partnerships, civil unions, and state marriage

iii. State marriage laws

1. federal Defense of Marriage Act allows state statutes to reject same-sex marriage laws enacted in another state

2. laws protecting heterosexual partners from SSIPV do not apply to same-sex unions since most states disallow same-sex marriages

iv. Neutrally-worded statutes: courts have not interpreted VAWA laws as applicable to homosexuals

v. Protective orders for SSIPV: appropriate laws should be expanded to embrace SSIPV relationships

vi. Police responses to calls by same-sex individuals

1. police made more arrests when arrest statutes were mandatory, if the couple were female, but not if the couple were male

2. police made more arrests if the crime were serious and if the couple were male, rather than female

3. for same-sex couples in mandatory arrest states, two other significant differences emerged:

a. if the statute had inclusive language, police arrested more victims in general and more male couples but not female couples

b. the seriousness of the crime was a better predictor of arrest for females than males

4. police training in every state needs overhauling in order to offer protection to same-sex victims

5. establishing specially-trained units to respond to SSIPV is one of the best solutions

6. other CJS personnel (e.g., judges) need training about SSIPV

VII. Practice, Policy, and Prevention in the Military

a. Practice Needs for Military IPV

i. treatment of PTSD is obvious given the high rates of exposure to traumatic events

ii. there are treatment needs among women with Child Sexual Assault and/or Military Sexual Assault histories, and the few exposed to combat traumas

iii. alcohol or drug treatment is ongoing

iv. Responses by the military to IPV

1. Family Advocacy Program provides the primary response to IPV including services for financial needs, counseling, relocation counseling, and deployment assistance

2. Social Work Services are responsible for assistance to victims and offenders

3. Commanders are ultimately responsible for soldiers in their unit and can punish MFIPV offenders in several ways

a. revoking the soldier’s off-base passes

b. demoting the soldier

c. having him discharged from the military

4. MFIPV program effectiveness

a. revealed significantly lower posttreatment recidivism rates

b. 83% did not re-injure their wives

b. Policy Recommendations for Military IPV

i. Researchers should examine partner abuse and child abuse simultaneously

ii. Researchers need to create similar definitions, create central databases, and use consistent methodologies

iii. Researchers should study differences in reporting methods and reach a consensus

iv. Practitioners need to serve abuse victims both in the military and civilian families that are related to the military

v. Practitioners should undertake education about the deleterious effects of alcohol use by either offender or victim

vi. Practitioners need to improve early identification through screening methods

c. Prevention of Military IPV

i. innovative, low- or no-cost intervention/prevention program designed to assist victims of partner violence

1. make use of volunteer victim advocates

a. provide advocates with training about how to respond to victims on-scene about physical or severe verbal IPV

b. advocates come on-scene and begins to assist the victim when military police call and determine that it is safe for the volunteer advocates

c. assists with safety planning and determining the victim’s immediate danger

d. discusses possible actions the victim might take with the offender’s commander or other authorities

e. discusses the victim’s immediate needs and provides a resource packet of available services

f. collects data about variables such as the number of previous IPV incidents and whether a weapon was used

2. females made 74% incident reports, and males made 26%

3. males were more likely to be involved in physical IPV and females more likely in verbal IPV

4. active-duty personnel were more likely than civilian family members to be involved in physical abuse

5. triggers for IPV were marital discord, jealousy, infidelity, power/control issues, and substance abuse