Abstract
The literature on abuser treatment programs reveals the following problems: (1) the dominance of shelter-related abuser programs, (2) little understanding of the effectiveness of such programs, and (3) low recruitment and high attrition rates in shelter-related programs. This study attempts to deal with some of these difficulties by an evaluation of a court mandated abuser treatment program. The sample used in this study includes a treatment group of 120 court-referred abusers and a control group of 101 nonreferred abusers. The research was designed to deal with problems such as differential participation in the treatment sessions and self-selection bias. Results indicated that the relationship between treatment attendance and recidivism was not linear. Only those defendants who attended 75% of the treatment sessions or more have decreased recidivism; others showed no impact. Some policy implications are also discussed.
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Chen, H.t., Bersani, C., Myers, S.C. et al. Evaluating the effectiveness of a court sponsored abuser treatment program. J Fam Viol 4, 309–322 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00978573
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00978573