Case Management for African American Men in a Batterer Counseling Program: Final Report of a Demonstration Project Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 221256
• Author(s): Edward W. Gondolf
• Date Published: May 2006
• Length: 61 pages
• Grant Number(s): 01-DS-19-12069
• Sponsoring Agency: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Corporate Author: Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute (MAATI)
• Sale Source: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded January 21, 2008.

Annotation

This report presents the methodology and findings of an evaluation of case management for African-American men in addition to court-mandated batterer counseling in a demonstration project at the Domestic Abuse Counseling Center in Pittsburgh, PA during March 2003 to May 2004.

Abstract

The study found that the outcomes of batterer program dropout, reassault and threats, women's perceptions, and rearrests were not significantly different for the men who received case management compared to men who received only batterer counseling without case management. In addition, the process evaluation found that the case management project was not implemented as initially designed, primarily because of time constraints at program intake and staff failures during the project. Interviews with the men suggested that the referral system had little use or impact. Over half of the men claimed they did not receive any referral at program intake. Only two-thirds of these men said they contacted a referral. Half of the men who contacted a referral said it was of little assistance; a few believed it helped them reduce their domestic abuse. Only a small portion of the men received job assistance, drug and/or alcohol treatment, or other counseling. The fundamental assumption that additional service contact through case management would improve program outcomes was not supported. The study used a quasi-experimental design that involved 202 African-American men who received case management and a comparison group of 482 African-American men who had previously completed batterer counseling but without case management. The outcome evaluation focused on program dropout based on clinical records, reassaults reported by the men's female partners, and rearrests based on police records. 9 tables, 27 references, and appended description of the demonstration project, case management design and procedures, and a summary of an experimental clinical trial of a culturally focused batterer counseling for African-American Men