Abstract
This paper reviews and critiques two prevailing program models for batterer intervention in order to highlight both their valuable achievements and attendant costs and consequences. We analyze these batterer intervention program models at 3 levels. First, we describe the historical development and basic program components of the intervention models. Second, we trace differences in the models to their grounding in different psychological assumptions and theories about behavior change, masculinity, and violence. Third, differences between the models are mapped onto contrasting approaches to the regulation of human deviance in the criminal justice and mental health systems. Based on this analysis, we conclude that further attention to structural and contextual factors, such as class, race, economic stress, and substance abuse in explanations of domestic violence is needed, together with alternative approaches to collaboration between victim advocates and batterer intervention providers.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Austin, J. B., and Dankwort, J. (1999). Standards for batterer programs: A review and analysis. J. Interpers. Viol. 14(2): 152–168.
Benjamin, J. (1988). The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of Domination, Pantheon Books, New York.
Brandwein, R. A. (ed.). (1999). BatteredWomen, Children, andWelfare Reform, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Browne, K. O., Saunders, D. G., and Staecker, K. M. (1997). Process-psychodynamic groups for men who batter: A brief treatment model. Fam. Soc. 78: 265–271.
Burns, J. (1992). Mad or just plain bad? Gender and the work of forensic clinical psychologists. In Ussher, J. M., and Nicolson, P. (eds.), Gender Issues in Clinical Psychology, Routledge, London, pp. 106–128.
Chodorow, N. (1978). The Reproduction of Mothering, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
Daniels, J. M., and Murphy, C.M. (1997). Stages and processes of changes in batterers' treatment. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 4, 123–145. Achievements and Consequences of Batterer Intervention 183
Dankwort, J. (1988). The challenge of accountability in treating wife abusers: A critique from Quebec. Can. J. Commun. Ment. Health, 7: 103–117.
Downs, D. A. (1996). More Than Victims: BatteredWomen, the Syndrome Society, and the Law, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Dutton, D. G. (1999). Traumatic origins of intimate rage. Aggression Viol. Behav. 4: 431–447.
Edleson, J., and Tolman, R. (1993). Interventions for Men Who Batter: An Ecological Approach, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Forer, L. G. (1994). The Rage to Punish: The Unintended Consequences of Mandatory Sentencing, Norton, New York.
Gondolf, E. A. (1988). Who are those guys? Toward a behavioral typology of batterers. Viol. Vict. 3: 187–203.
Gondolf, E. A. (1999a). Comparison of four batterer intervention systems: Do court referral, program length, and services matter? J. Interpers. Viol. 14: 41–61.
Gondolf, E. A. (1999b). MCMI-III results for batterer program participants in four cities: Less “pathological” than expected. J. Fam. Viol. 14: 1–17.
Gondolf, E. W., and Hanneken, J. (1987). The Gender Warrior: Reformed batterers on abuse, treatment and change. J. Fam. Viol. 2: 177–191.
Gordon, L. (1988). Heroes of Their Own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence: Boston 1880-1960, Viking. New York.
Gottman, J. M., Jacobson, N. S., Rushe, R. H., Shortt, J. W., Babcock, J., La Taillade, J. J., and Waltz, J. (1995). The relationship between heart reactivity, emotionally aggressive behavior, and general violence in batterers. J. Fam. Psychol. 9: 227–248.
Healey, K., Smith, C., and O'Sullivan, C. (1998). Batterer Intervention: Program Approaches and Criminal Justice Strategies, National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC.
Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and Recovery, Basic Books, New York.
Hilton, N. Z. (1993). Introduction. In Hilton, N. Z. (ed.), Legal Responses to Wife Assault: Current Trends and Evaluation, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 3–8.
Holtzworth-Munroe, A., and Stuart, G. L. (1994). Typologies of male batterers: Three subtypes and the differences among them. Psychol. Bull. 116(3): 476–497.
Jacobson, N. S., & Gottman, J. M. (1998). When Men Batter Women: New Insights Into Ending Abusive Relationships, Simon & Schuster, New York.
Jennings, J. L. (1987). History and issues in the treatment of battering men: A case for unstructured group therapy. J. Fam. Viol. 2(3): 193–213.
Jones, E. E., and Pulos, S. M. (1993). Comparing the process in psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral therapies. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 61: 306–316.
Jukes, A. E. (1994). Why Men Hate Women, Free Association Books. London.
Jukes, A. E. (1999). Men Who Batter Women, Routledge, London.
Kaufman, M. (1994). Men, feminism, and men's contradictory experiences of power. In Brod, H., and Kaufman, M. (eds.), Theorizing Masculinities, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 142–163.
Lindsey, M., McBride, R. W., and Platt, C. M. (1993). Amend: Philosophy and Curriculum for Treating Batterers, Gylantic Publishing Co, Littleton, CO.
Masse, M. A. (1992). In the Name of Love: Women, Masochism, and the Gothic, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Moore, K. J., Greenfield, W. L., Wilson, M., and Kok, A. C. (1997). Toward a taxonomy of batterers. Families in Society, 78, 352–360.
Murphy, C. M., and Baxter, V. A. (1997). Motivating batterers to change in the treatment context. J. Interpersonal Viol. 12(4): 607–613.
Myers, D. L. (1995). Eliminating the battering of women by men: Some considerations for behavior analysis. J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 28: 493–507.
Ornduff, S. R, Kelsey, R. M., and O'Leary, K. D. (1995). What do we know about typologies of batterers? Comment on Gottman et al. (1995). J. Fam. Psychol. 9: 249–252.
Pence, E., and Paymar, M. (1993). Education Groups for Men Who Batter: The Duluth Model, Springer, New York. 184 Mankowski, Haaken and Silvergleid
Raphael, J. (1999). Keeping women poor:Howdomestic violence prevents women from leaving welfare and entering the world of work. In Brandwein, R. A. (ed.), Battered Women, Children, and Welfare Reform, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 31–44.
Reitz, R. R. (1999). Batterers' experiences of being violent:Aphenomenological study. Psychol. Women Q. 23: 143–165.
Roberts, A. R. (1996). Helping BatteredWomen: New Perspectives and Remedies, Oxford University Press, New York.
Saunders, D. G. (1993). Husbands who assault: Multiple profiles requiring multiple responses. In Hilton, N. Z. (ed.), Legal Responses to Wife Assault: Current Trends and Evaluation, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 9–34.
Saunders, D. G. (1996). Feminist-cognitive-behavioral and process psychodynamic treatments for men who batter: Interaction of abuser traits and treatment models. Viol. Vict. 11(4): 393–413.
Scalia, J. (1994). Psychoanalytic insights and the prevention of pseudosuccess in the cognitivebehavioral treatment of batterers. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9, 548–555.
Schechter, S. (1982). Women and Male Violence: The Visions and Struggles of the Battered Women's Movement, South End Press, Boston.
Segal, L. (1990). SlowMotion: Changing Masculinities, ChangingMen, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
Sonkin, D. J., and Durphy, M. (1997). Learning to LiveWithoutViolence, Volcano Press, Volcano, CA.
Syers, M., and Edleson, J. L. (1992). The combined effects of coordinated criminal justice intervention in woman abuse. J. Interpers. Viol. 7: 490–502.
Teays, W. (1998). Standards of perfection and battered women's self-defense. In French, S. G., Teays, W., and Purdy, L. M. (eds.), Violence Against Women: Philosophical Perspectives, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, pp. 57–76.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mankowski, E.S., Haaken, J. & Silvergleid, C.S. Collateral Damage: An Analysis of the Achievements and Unintended Consequences of Batterer Intervention Programs and Discourse. Journal of Family Violence 17, 167–184 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015061517888
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015061517888