Abstract
A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of referral to supplemental mental health treatment for batterer program participants who screened positive for mental health problems. The principal outcome measure was re-assault reported during a periodic 12-month follow-up with female partners (n = 308). Batterer program completion and other abuse indicators were also considered. Mandatory court referral to mental health treatment produced no significant improvement in batterer program completion, re-assault and other abuse indicators. These results may be influenced by the low compliance to the referral, since the select number of men who did comply with a mental health evaluation (n = 48 of 148) and those who received treatment (n = 28 of 148) did better than those who did not. Simplified referral procedures or integrated treatment services might prove to be a more effective approach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
We use the term “domestic violence” to refer to what is more specifically being discussed in much of the research literature as “intimate partner violence.” Domestic violence is more commonly used in the criminal justice system and within criminal codes to refer to intimate partner violence, although the term may include violence against other family members. The setting of this study within the “domestic violence courts” leads to its use here for the purpose of consistency.
The terms “intention-to-treat” and “treatment-received” are generally used with experimental designs but are sometimes used in quasi-experimental designs, like the one employed in this study, to help illustrate the issues associated with the terms. As explained in the text, intention-to-treat refers here to the mandatory referrals from the court to mental health evaluation and treatment. The intent under this reinforced requirement was for the referrals to receive treatment. The “treatment received” represents actual contact with the mental health clinic in the form of evaluation or evaluation and treatment—it is compliance to the referral. The evaluation with a clinician is considered here as part of the “treatment.” Even though it did not technically count as one of the treatment sessions, the referred men generally viewed it as such.
References
Austin, J., & Dankwort, J. (1999). Standards for batterer programs. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 152–169.
Bennett, L. (1998). In defense of batterer-program standards. Families in Society, 79, 93–97.
Boulet, J., & Boss, M. (1991). Reliability and validity of the brief symptom inventory. Psychological Assessment, 3, 433–437.
Choca, J., & Van Denburg, E. (1997). Interpretive guide to the Millon clinical multiaxial inventory (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Daly, J. E., & Pelowski, S. (2000). Predictors of dropout among men who batter: a review of studies with implications for research and practice. Violence and Victims, 15, 137–160.
Derogatis, L. (1983). The brief symptom inventory: an introductory report. Psychological Medicine, 13, 595–605.
Derogatis, L. (1993). BSI: Brief symptom inventory, administration, scoring, and procedures manual. Baltimore, MD: Clinical Psychometric Research.
Dunford, F. W. (1992). The measurement of recidivism in cases of spousal assault. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 83, 120–136.
Dutton, D. (1998). The abusive personality: Violence and control in intimate relationships. New York: Guilford.
Dutton, D., & Kropp, P. (2000). A review of domestic violence risk instruments. Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 1, 171–181.
Efron, B., & Feldman, D. (1991). Compliance as an explanatory variable in clinical trials. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 86, 9–17.
Gavazzi, S., Julian, T., & McKenry, P. (1996). Utilization of the brief symptom inventory to discriminate between violent and nonviolent male relationship partners. Psychological Reports, 79, 1047–1056.
Gondolf, E. (1997). Patterns of re-assault in batterer programs. Violence and Victims, 12, 373–387.
Gondolf, E. (1999). MCMI results for batterer program participants in four cities: less “pathological” than expected. Journal of Family Violence, 14, 1–17.
Gondolf, E. (2000a). Human subject issues in batterer program evaluation. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 4, 273–297.
Gondolf, E. (2000b). Re-assault at 30-months after batterer program intake. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 44, 111–128.
Gondolf, E. (2002). Batterer intervention systems: Issues, outcomes, and recommendations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gondolf, E. (2007a). Theoretical and research support for the Duluth model: a reply to Dutton and Corvo. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12, 644–657.
Gondolf, E. (2007b). Supplemental mental health treatment for batterer program participants. Washington, DC: Final report submitted to the National Institute of Justice.
Gondolf, E., & Jones, A. (2001). The program effect of batterer programs in three cities. Violence and Victims, 16, 693–704.
Hamberger, L. K. (2002). The men’s group program: A community-based, cognitive-behavioral, pro-feminist intervention program. In E. Aldarondo & F. Mederos (Eds.), Men who batter: Intervention and prevention strategies in a diverse society (pp. 7-1–7-43). New York: Civic Research Institute.
Hamberger, L., & Hastings, J. (1991). Personality correlates of men who batter and nonviolent men: some continuities and discontinuities. Journal of Family Violence, 6, 131–148.
Hamberger, L., Lohr, J., Bonge, D., & Tolin, D. (1996). A large sample empirical typology of male spouse abusers and its relationship to dimensions of abuse. Violence and Victims, 11, 277–292.
Heckert, A., & Gondolf, E. (2004). Battered women’s perceptions of risk versus risk factors and instruments in predicting repeat re-assault. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 778–800.
Holtzworth-Munroe, A., & Stuart, G. (1994). Typologies of male batterers: three subtypes and the differences among them. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 476–497.
Jones, A., & Gondolf, E. (2001). Time-varying risk factors for re-assault by batterer program participants. Journal of Family Violence, 16, 345–359.
Marshall, L. (1992). Development of the severity of violence against women scales. Journal of Family Violence, 7, 103–121.
Mederos, F. (2002). Changing our visions of intervention: The evolution of programs for physically abusive men. In E. Aldarondo & F. Mederos (Eds.), Men who batter: Intervention and prevention strategies in a diverse society (pp. 1-2–1-26). New York: Civic Research Institute.
Millon, T. (1994). Millon clinical multiaxial inventory-III manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
Monahan, J., Steadman, H., Sliver, E., Appelbaum, P., Robbins, P., Mulvey, E., et al. (2001). Rethinking risk assessment: The MacArthur study of mental disorder and violence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Murray, K. (2001). Validating the brief symptom inventory for use with a correctional population. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, 61, 2607.
Pence, E., & Paymar, M. (1993). Education groups for men who batter: The Duluth model. New York: Springer.
Pence, E., & Shepard, M. (Eds.). (1999). Coordinated community response to domestic violence. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage.
Peterson, C. (1989). Review of the brief symptom inventory. In J. Conoley & J. Kramer (Eds.), The tenth mental measurements yearbook. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.
Pettit, L., & Smith, R. (2002). The AMEND model. In E. Aldarondo & F. Mederos (Eds.), Men who batter: Intervention and prevention strategies in a diverse society (pp. 8-1–8-23). New York: Civic Research Institute.
Roehl, J., & Guertin, K. (2000). Intimate partner violence: the current use of risk assessments in sentencing offenders. Justice System Journal, 21, 171–197.
Shepard, M., & Campbell, J. (1992). The abusive behavior inventory: a measure of psychological and physical abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7, 291–305.
Stordeur, R., & Stille, R. (1989). Ending men’s violence against their partners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Straus, M. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: the Conflict Tactics (CT) scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75–88.
Tolman, R. (1989). The development of a measure of psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners. Violence and Victims, 4, 159–177.
Tolman, R., & Bennett, L. (1990). A review of quantitative research on men who batter. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5, 87–118.
White, R., & Gondolf, E. (2000). Implications of personality profiles for batterers treatment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 467–488.
Wilson, D., Mitchell, O., & MacKenzie, D. (2006). A systematic review of drug court effects on recidivism. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2, 459–487.
Zimmerman, M. (2002). Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Author’s Note
This research project was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (NIJ Grant #2003-MU-MU-0002; 9/01/03-8/31/07). The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this report on the project do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Department of Justice. Bernie Auchter, Senior Social Science Analyst, NIJ Violence Against Women and Family Violence Program, offered invaluable assistance and guidance in the administration of the project.
The author wishes to thank Candice Petrovich, Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Pudlowski, Chief Operating Officer of the Domestic Abuse Counseling Center (DACC), Pittsburgh, PA, for their assistance in developing and implementing the research project. Also, the DACC office manager, Jennifer Peterson, helped to coordinate the mental health screening at the batterer program and retrieved information on the program attendance and referral compliance. Several DACC counselors conducted the program intake and orientation that included the screening and referral of our research project: Marilyn Arter, Jill Allen Bradley, Joe Carse, and Mark Pudlowski. Jack Simmons, Chief Magistrate of the Pittsburgh Municipal Courts, guided the project’s implementation in the courts and provided procedural advice during the course of the research. Marlene O’Leary, the intake coordinator and administrator for the outpatient clinic of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC), played a key role in developing and administering the procedures for the mental health evaluation and treatment of the referred batterer program participants. Tad Santos offered similar assistance at the mental health clinic associated with Mon-Yough Community Services.
The research project was conducted through the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Research and Training Institute (MARTI) based at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Special appreciation goes to Crystal Deemer, MARTI Project Director and Administrative Assistant, for her supervision of the screening implementation, data collection, and follow-up interviews. Research assistants, Gayle Moyer, Vera Bonnet, and Tina Gray tracked and interviewed both the men and women in the study. Vera Bonnet also assumed the position of case-manager and system-coordinator during the mandatory referral stage. Nishant Bhattarai assisted ably with data management and analysis, and Megan Kensey worked on data entry and screening scores.
An expert group of researchers offered advice, counsel, and critique throughout the course of the research project and at periodic advisory committee meetings: Edward Mulvey, Director of the Law and Psychiatry Research Program, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Chuck Lidz, Director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School; and Jennifer Skeem, Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine. Several practitioners also served on the advisory committee including Mark Pudlowski, DACC; Marlene O’Leary, WPIC; Lynn Hawker, Women’s Center and Shelter of Pittsburgh; Heather Kelly, Assistant District Attorney; and Vera Bonnet and Crystal Deemer, MAATI.
The contributions of these individuals and many others behind the scenes, made this research project very much the result of an extensive team effort and one that represents a wide range of experience and knowledge.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gondolf, E.W. Outcomes from Referring Batterer Program Participants to Mental Health Treatment. J Fam Viol 24, 577–588 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9256-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9256-1