An analysis of treatment programs for men who abuse their female partners.

Abstract

Treatment programs for men who abuse their female partners have emerged as a response to reduce woman abuse. Evaluation studies which have attempted to determine the effectiveness of such programs have been unable to make any sound conclusions due, in large part, to a number of methodological problems. In addition to such problems, programs for men, identified as following a specific theoretical model, often incorporate components and intervention strategies belonging to other models. This situation makes it difficult to determine which aspects of programs appear to have an influence over change in men's abusive behaviour. There is a need to examine which factors of group treatment are both productive and counter-productive. Through an analysis of sixteen evaluation studies of programs for men who abuse their female partner, this research sets out to respond to these issues in three ways. First, a description of consistent, independent measures across all evaluation studies will be provided. The information gathered will illustrate the differences among counselling programs which create challenges in determining which mode of treatment is working most effectively. Second, a review of the methodological problems present among evaluations studies will be carried out. Finally, this research will attempt to make general statements about which program elements appear to have an influence over reducing physical abuse. Suggestions for a more uniform, standardized form of evaluation are presented.