Disparate Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence Intervention: A Preliminary Investigation of Participant Outcomes across Two Community-based Programs

ABSTRACT

There exists ongoing debate regarding appropriate therapeutic approaches, practices, and techniques for interventions targeted toward male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV). The current study describes and presents pilot evaluation data from two IPV intervention programs implemented in British Columbia, Canada which use different approaches to IPV intervention: Help Yourself to Healthy Relationships (HYHR; a feminist/trauma-informed program), and Managing Stress and Personal Relationships (MSPR; a cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT)-oriented anger/stress management program). This pilot comparative evaluation examines quantitative outcomes focused on self-reported changes in participant psychological and physical abuse toward their intimate partners, and a series of questions assessing feedback about the program content, lessons learned, and overall satisfaction. Findings from the evaluation suggest that MSPR was more effective at reducing rates of psychological violence than was HYHR. In addition, regardless of which program they participated in, participants discussed the importance of learning how to understand, manage, and regulate their emotions. Limitations of the current study and implications for the development and improvement of future IPV intervention programs are discussed.

Declaration of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ To protect participant confidentiality, program names have been changed to pseudonyms.

² The Farsi group includes culturally sensitive, translated material, cultural discussions, and two Farsi-speaking facilitators.

³ A female facilitator meets with each partner to assess risk to her and her children. If needed, a safety plan is put in place.

⁴ During pre-screening, female partners are engaged in a safety screening process and may be referred to counseling or programs available for women and children who have experienced violence.

⁵ Respondents were given the option of including their personal contact information on their surveys (to allow for linking the questionnaires across the three time points) or be given a unique identification number for which the key linking names/identification numbers would be created and held by program staff but not provided to the evaluation team. All participants for the MSRP program opted to include their contact information.

⁶ Although the questionnaire used for participants is titled “Partner Form”, the original ABI (i.e., without “Partner Form” in the title) was designed for female survivors of violence. The ABI – Partner Form was intended for male perpetrators of abuse.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant provided by the BC Ministry of Public Safety, Community Safety and Crime Prevention Branch.

Notes on contributors

Jessica Bouchard

Jessica Bouchard – Simon Fraser University

Jessica Boucahrd is a PhD candidate in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. Her current research focuses on crime prevention and intervention, focusing primarily on the evaluation of community-based programs. Her recent work includes evaluations of intimate partner violence intervention programs for non-adjudicated men in British Columbia, Canada, the representation of homicide victims in the media, and meta-analyses on the effects of halfway houses on criminal recidivism, Teen Court on juvenile delinquency, restorative justice programs for at-risk youth, and intensive supervision programs.

Jennifer S. Wong

Jennifer S. Wong – Simon Fraser University

Jennifer Wong is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. Her work employs applied, quantitative, and qualitative methods to study issues of delinquency/crime prevention and intervention, focusing primarily on evaluation and policy analysis in the areas of crime prevention and crime control policy. Dr. Wong’s recent work has examined evaluations of intimate partner violence intervention programs, the impact of prior deportation of illegal immigrants on recidivism, the relationship between media framing of homicide and the use of images in newspaper articles, and meta-analyses on gang prevention programs, restorative justice programs for at-risk youth, and intensive supervision programs.