The role of religion and faith on behavioral change among perpetrators of domestic violence in interventions: A literature review

ABSTRACT

While faith, religion, and spirituality are frequently cited as helping survivors of domestic violence to recover from trauma, there is inadequate knowledge about how faith and religious beliefs can impact perpetrators’ behavioral change in domestic violence interventions. This literature review synthesizes eleven studies that met the inclusion criteria on the role of faith and religion on perpetrators’ behavioral change by focusing on the influence of faith communities and domestic violence interventions. The findings show that the roles of faith and belief systems on behavioral change among perpetrators are complex and dynamic as faith has varying impacts on behavioral change. The findings also indicate that social workers recognize how faith and spirituality, and the integration of faith-based strategies in interventions positively impact their practices. The studies also discuss the intersections between the roles of faith communities, men’s faith-based justifications of violence, and religiously based male privilege.

KEYWORDS:

• Faith
• behavioral change
• domestic violence interventions
• perpetrators
• religion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).