Culturally-Differentiated Batterer Intervention Programs for Immigrant Male Batterers (IMB): An Integrative Review

ABSTRACT

Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs) show minimal evidence of treatment efficacy in curbing post-intervention recidivism. These interventions demonstrate even less significant treatment potential for Immigrant Male Batterers (IMB) who contend with intersecting pre- and post-migration barriers to intervention uptake in BIPs in their host countries. Accordingly, best practices on treatment components of BIPs with promising results among IMB remain inconclusive. A search for quantitative and qualitative outcomes/intervention studies conducted in ten electronic databases revealed only eight studies that met inclusion criteria. Findings showed interventions targeting IMB compared the effects of new or modified curricula to standard curricula with immigrant vs. non-immigrant group comparison. Participants were typically newly migrated Hispanic men in the United States. Low to moderate partner violence was commonly reported. Culturally-specific programs utilized hybridized BIP curricula, bilingual facilitators, leveraged positive aspects of culture, and included batterers in the subsequent design of interventions. Allowing for group negotiations of cultural expressions of masculinity produced promising short-term results in changing IPV-tolerant attitudes. However, long-term impact remains inconclusive. Findings have implications for culture-congruent IMB intervention programs designed to address immigrant IPV outcomes and improve treatment uptake. Suggestions for future IMB intervention design are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Intimate partner violence
• immigrant health
• treatment
• domestic violence
• male batterers
• batterer intervention
• literature review

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Drs. Linda F. C. Bullock, PhD, RN, FAAN (Professor Emerita) and Jo-Ana D. Chase, PhD, APRN-BC for their subject-matter expertise. We thank Rebecca Graves and Taira Meadowcroft of the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library (University of Missouri), who were helpful in conducting preliminary database searches for this article.

Disclosure of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.