Abstract
Purpose
Despite the emergence of alternative models to traditional Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs) to address domestic violence (DV), little research has explored stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences of various treatment approaches. Therefore, this study, guided by the stakeholder engagement framework, explored the experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of court personnel and clinicians involved in mandated treatment for those convicted of DV crimes.
Method
Two focus groups and nine semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with court personnel and clinicians and were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological approach.
Findings
Five themes emerged: (1) “Capturing a true batterer”: The discrepancy between common perceptions of DV batterers, the legal definition of DV offenses, and the standard treatment approach for DV crimes; (2) A “cookie-cutter” approach: The controversy over the one-size-fits-all approach of court-mandated treatment; (3) “I don’t have the tools”: Professionals’ frustration with policy and practice limitations; (4) The need for more inclusive treatment: Broadening the range of participants involved in the DV treatment process, and (5) A call for a shift in pedagogy: A new paradigm for DV and DV treatment. Overall, various stakeholders (i.e., court personnel and clinicians) expressed a sense of helplessness while attempting to navigate current DV statutes, court-mandated BIPs/DV treatment, and the realities of DV.
Conclusion
The narratives of stakeholders point to the desire and the need for a new treatment paradigm to address the various types of DV crimes, the needs of those convicted of misdemeanor DV crimes, and the broader impact of DV.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Notes
In this article, we do not use the terms IPV and DV interchangeably.
The traditional gender paradigm of IPV argues that IPV is a consequence of patriarchy and assumes that men are perpetrators and women are victims. The non-gendered paradigm rejects the assumption that IPV is inherently gendered and supports a more comprehensive understanding of IPV. Debates remain ongoing as to which paradigm should inform domestic violence interventions. More about these debates are beyond the scope of this article. (See Johnson (2008); Cares et al. (2021); and Wilson et al. (2021) for more historical context on this debate.)
In this study, we use the term “clinician” to indicate those providing treatment for DV crimes because, in Utah, the site of this study, those providing DV treatment are required to be licensed mental health therapists (e.g., a clinical mental health counselor or a clinical social worker) (Utah Mental Health Professional Practice Act, 2013; Utah Administrative Code, 2019).
In RJ, prescriptive, value-laden language that may stigmatize individuals is avoided. Thus, terms such as the person who has caused harm and the person who has been harmed are used instead. However, in the context of the terminology used within the criminal legal system, in the sources we cite, and by the participants in our study, the terms offender(s) and victim(s) are used throughout this article.
The CP model is implemented according to state standards and guidelines for treatment for misdemeanor DV crimes. In Arizona, first-time offenders had to attend 26 weeks of CP sessions. In Utah, at the time of the study, offenders had to complete 12 weeks of offender-only group treatment before they could participate in conjoint treatment with their victims. Thus, in Utah, a hybrid approach was implemented consisting of 12 weeks of BIP followed by four or six weeks of CP.
In Utah, those convicted of a misdemeanor DV crime are mandated to treatment. The primary treatment available to DV offenders is BIP. Court-mandated offenders were randomly assigned to one of two programs (BIP-only or BIP-plus-CP). The randomized controlled trial was conducted in two parts: part I included all eligible DV cases, including IPV, family violence (e.g., adult child and parent), and violence between roommates with no romantic or familial relationship, and part II included only IPV cases. In part I, treatment was 18 sessions (18 weeks of BIP or 12 weeks of BIP plus six weeks of CP) and in part II, treatment was 16 sessions (16 weeks of BIP or 12 weeks of BIP plus four weeks of CP).
At the time of the study, first-time offenders were mandated to a minimum of 16 weeks of treatment in the state of Utah.
In RJ in general, and peacemaking circles in particular, the facilitator or Circle Keeper does not have to be a clinician. However, in the context of DV and the state standards for DV offender treatment, the Circle Keepers in CP were clinicians.
A talking piece is a tool to facilitate active listening in CP sessions. Only the participant who is holding the piece is allowed to talk while everyone else listens. The use of the talking piece reassures the speakers that they will not be interrupted, enabling them to pause and find the words to express their thoughts (Pranis, 2015).
References
Avieli, H. (2021). False allegations of domestic violence: a qualitative analysis of ex-partners’ narratives. Journal of Family Violence, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-021-00342-w
Babcock, J. C., Green, C. E., & Robie, C. (2004). Does batterers’ treatment work? A meta-analytic review of domestic violence treatment. Clinical Psychology Review, 23(8), 1023–1053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2002.07.001
Barocas, B., Emery, D., & Mills, L. G. (2016). Changing the domestic violence narrative: aligning definitions and standards. Journal of Family Violence, 31(8), 941–947.
Boxall, H., Rosevear, L., & Payne, J. (2015). Domestic violence typologies: what value to practice? Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 494, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.371117018965300
Braithwaite, J. (2004). Restorative justice: Theories and worries. In Visiting Experts’ Papers: 123rd International Senior Seminar, Resource Material Series, 63, 77 – 56.
Brocki, J. M., & Wearden, A. J. (2006). A critical evaluation of the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 21(1), 87–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/14768320500230185
Cares, A. C., Reckdenwald, A., & Fernandez, K. (2021). Domestic violence and abuse through a sociological lens. The Routledge International Handbook of domestic violence and abuse (pp. 40–54). Routledge.
Chan, Z. C. Y., Fung, Y., & Chien, W. (2013). Bracketing in phenomenology: Only undertaken in the data collection and analysis process. The Qualitative Report, 18(30), 1–9.
Cheng, S. Y., Davis, M., Jonson-Reid, M., & Yaeger, L. (2021). Compared to what? A meta-analysis of batterer intervention studies using nontreated controls or comparisons. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 22(3), 496–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019865927
Concannon, T. W., Meissner, P., Grunbaum, J. A., McElwee, N., Guise, J. M., Santa, J., Conway, P. H., Daudelin, D., Morrato, E. H., & Leslie, L. K. (2012). A new taxonomy for stakeholder engagement in patient-centered outcomes research. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 27(8), 985–991. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-012-2037-1
Crockett, E. E., Keneski, E., Yeager, K., & Loving, T. J. (2015). Breaking the mold: evaluating a non-punitive domestic violence intervention program. Journal of Family Violence, 30(4), 489–499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9706-x
Devaney, J., Bradbury-Jones, C., Macy, R. J., Øverlien, C., & Holt, S. (Eds.). (2021). The Routledge International Handbook of domestic violence and abuse. Routledge.
Eatough, V., & Smith, J. A. (2017). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In C. Willig & W. Stainton-Rogers (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative psychology (pp. 193–211). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526405555.n12
Ellsberg, M., Jansen, H. A., Heise, L., Watts, C. H., & Garcia-Moreno, C. (2008). Intimate partner violence and women’s physical and mental health in the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence: an observational study. The Lancet, 371(9619), 1165–1172. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60522-X
Gade, C. B. (2021). Is restorative justice punishment? Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 38(3), 127–155.
Green, C., & Penning-Rowsell, E. C. (2010). Stakeholder engagement in flood risk management. In G. Pender, & H. Faulkner (Eds.), Flood risk science and management (pp. 372–385). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444324846.ch18.
Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Meehan, J. C., Herron, K., Rehman, U., & Stuart, G. L. (2000). Testing the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) batterer typology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 1000–1019.
Jeffries, S., Wood, W. R., & Russell, T. (2021). Adult restorative justice and gendered violence: practitioner and service provider viewpoints from Queensland, Australia. Laws, 10(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws10010013
Johnson, M. P. (2008). Typology of domestic violence: intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence. Northeastern University Press.
Kertesz, M., Fogden, L., & Humphreys, C. (2021). Domestic violence and the impact on children. In J. Devaney, C. Bradbury-Jones, J. Macy, R., C. Øverlien, & S. Holt, (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Domestic Violence and Abuse (pp. 128-140). Routledge.
Klein, A. R., & Klein, J. L. (2020). Making domestic violence a real crime. In A. R. Klein, & J. L. Klein (Eds.), Abetting batterers: what police, prosecutors, and courts aren’t doing to protect America’s women (pp. 39–44). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Kohn, L. S. (2010). What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding-restorative justice as a new paradigm for domestic violence intervention. Seton Hall Law Review, 40, 517–595.
Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., McCullars, A., & Misra, T. A. (2012). Motivations for men and women’s intimate partner violence perpetration: a comprehensive review. Partner Abuse, 3, 429–468. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.4.429
Lawrence, E., Mazurek, C., & Reardon, K. W. (2021). Comparing recidivism rates among domestically violent men enrolled in ACTV versus Duluth/CBT. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 89(5), 469–475. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000649
Lila, M., Gracia, E., & Catalá-Miñana, A. (2018). Individualized motivational plans in batterer intervention programs: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 86(4), 309–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000291
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2013). The constructivist credo. Left Coast Press, Inc.
Maiuro, R. D., & Eberle, J. A. (2008). State standards for domestic violence perpetrator treatment: current status, trends, and recommendations. Violence and Victims, 23(2), 133–155. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.23.2.133
McCarrick, J., Davis-McCabe, C., & Hirst-Winthrop, S. (2016). Men’s experiences of the criminal justice system following female perpetrated intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 31(2), 203–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9749-z
Mills, L. G., Barocas, B., & Ariel, B. (2013). The next generation of court-mandated domestic violence treatment: a comparison study of batterer intervention and restorative justice programs. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 9(1), 65–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-012-9164-x
Mills, L. G., Barocas, B., Butters, R. P., & Ariel, B. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of restorative justice-informed treatment for domestic violence crimes. Nature Human Behaviour, 3, 1284–1294. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0724-1
Morrison, P. K., Cluss, P. A., Miller, E. P., Fleming, R., Hawker, L., Bicehouse, T., George, D., Wright, K., & Chang, J. C. (2017). Elements needed for quality batterer intervention programs: perspectives of professionals who deal with intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 32(5), 481–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9835-x
Morrison, P. K., Hawker, L., Cluss, P. A., Miller, E., Fleming, R., Bicehouse, T., George, D., Burke, J., Wright, K., & Chang, J. C. (2021). The challenges of working with men who perpetrate partner violence: perspectives and observations of experts who work with batterer intervention programs. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7–8), NP3524–NP3546. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518778258
Morrison, P. K., Hawker, L., Miller, E. P., Cluss, P. A., George, D., Fleming, R., Bicehouse, T., Wright, K., Burke, J., & Chang, J. C. (2019). The operational challenges for batterer intervention programs: results from a 2-year study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(13), 2674–2696. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516662307
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods (1st ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995658
National Conference of State Legislature (2019). Domestic violence/domestic abuse definitions and relationships: Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/domestic-violence-domestic-abuse-definitions-and-relationships.aspx#Additional%20Resources
National Institute of Justice (2011). Domestic violence courts: Batterer programs, monitoring, and assessments, Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/domestic-violence-courts-batterer-programs-monitoring-and-assessments
Pence, E., Paymar, M., & Ritmeester, T. (1993). Education groups for men who batter: the Duluth model. Springer Publishing Company.
Pietkiewicz, I., & Smith, J. A. (2014). A practical guide to using interpretative phenomenological analysis in qualitative research psychology. Psychological Journal, 20(1), 7–14. https://doi.org/10.14691/CPPJ.20.1.7
Pierre, C. L., Burnside, A., & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2020). A longitudinal examination of community violence exposure, school belongingness, and mental health among African-American adolescent males. School Mental Health, 1–12.
Pranis, K. (2015). Little book of circle processes: A new/old approach to peacemaking. Simon and Schuster.
Ptacek, J. (2017). Research on restorative justice in cases of intimate partner violence. In Renzetti, C., & Follingstad, D. (Eds.). (2017). Preventing intimate partner violence: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 159 – 84). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t89gf6.12
Redondo, N., Muñoz-Rivas, M. J., Cantos, A. L., & Graña, J. L. (2021). Therapeutic dynamics of aggression, readiness to change, and recidivism in a partner violent men typology. Crime & Delinquency. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287211036451
Sherman, L. W., & Harris, H. M. (2015). Increased death rates of domestic violence victims from arresting vs. warning suspects in the Milwaukee Domestic Violence Experiment (MilDVE). Journal of experimental criminology, 11(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-014-9203-x
Smith, D. A., & Lohrke, F. T. (2008). Entrepreneurial network development: trusting in the process. Journal of Business Research, 61(4), 315–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.06.018
Smith, J. A. (2011). Evaluating the contribution of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5(1), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2010.510659
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: theory, method and research. Sage. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780880903340091
Smith, S. G., Zhang, X., Basile, K. C., Merrick, M. T., Wang, J., Kresnow, M., & Chen, J. (2018). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey (NISVS): 2015 data brief – updated release. National center for injury prevention and control, Centers for disease control and prevention.
Snead, A. L., Bennett, V. E., & Babcock, J. C. (2018). Treatments that work for intimate partner violence: beyond the Duluth Model. In E. L. Jeglic, & C. Calkins (Eds.), New frontiers in offender treatment: the translation of evidence-based practices to correctional settings (pp. 269–285). Springer.
Straus, M. A., & Michel-Smith, Y. (2014). Mutuality, severity, and chronicity of violence by father-only, mother-only, and mutually violent parents as reported by university students in 15 nations. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 664–676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.004
Taft, ÐT., Macdonald, A., Creech, S. K., Monson, ÐM., & Murphy, ÐM. (2016). A randomized controlled clinical trial of the strength at home men’s program for partner violence in military veterans. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 77(9), 1168–1175.
Trevena, J., & Poynton, S. (2016). Does a prison sentence affect future domestic violence reoffending? Crime and Justice Bulletin, 190, 1–12.
Truman, J. L., & Morgan, R. E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence. US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Utah Administrative Code, Rule R501-21-7. (2019). Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/search/R501-21-7/Current%20Rules
Utah Mental Health Professional Practice Act, Law Enforcement 58-60-S103 (2013). Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title58/Chapter60/58-60-S103.html
Utah State Legislature, Utah Code Sects.77-36-1 (2021). Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title77/Chapter36/77-36-S1.html
Voith, L. A., Logan-Greene, P., Strodthoff, T., & Bender, A. E. (2020). A paradigm shift in batterer intervention programming: a need to address unresolved trauma. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 21(4), 691–705. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018791268
Wakefield, S., & Wildeman, C. (2018). How parental incarceration harms children and what to do about it. National Council on Family Relations, 3(1), 1–6.
Wilson, D. B., Feder, L., & Olaghere, A. (2021). Court-mandated interventions for individuals convicted of domestic violence: an updated Campbell systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 17(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1151
World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. World Health Organization.
Yunus, R. M., Hairi, N. N., & Choo, W. Y. (2019). Consequences of elder abuse and neglect: a systematic review of observational studies. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 20(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838017692798
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to those who participated in this study allowing us to gain greater insight into treatment programs for domestic violence crimes. This study would not have been possible without several invaluable partnerships with key constituent groups, including the judiciary, community-based agencies, and universities. More specifically, we would like to thank the two justice courts (and all the judges) as well as the local treatment providers (and all the clinicians) that partnered with us for this study. We are grateful to all the members of the research team who worked on this project from New York University (Anne Bauer, Jessamin Cipollina, Christine Cocchiola, Michaela Cotner, Danielle Emery, Milica Gajic, Charlotte Gundry, Alaina Long, Kelly Murphy, Nela Noll, and Yi Yi Yeap), the University of Utah (Rob Butters, Shea Chandler, April O’Neill, Kimberly Padilla, Kort Prince, Lani Taholo, and Erin Becker Worwood), and the University of Cambridge (Barak Ariel).
Funding
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (award no. 0964821).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Barocas, B., Yang, S., Park, Y. et al. A Call for a New Paradigm: Perspectives of Court Personnel and Clinicians on Court-Mandated Treatment Approaches for Domestic Violence Crimes. J Fam Viol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00480-9
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00480-9
Keywords
- Batterer Intervention Programs
- domestic violence
- domestic violence treatment
- restorative justice
- stakeholders
- clinicians
- court personnel