This article reviews clinical recommendations for counseling Black men who commit domestic violence, outcome research regarding culturally oriented counseling, and preliminary findings regarding batterer counseling with African Americans.
Clinical observations and research findings in other areas indicate that cultural issues may explain the poor outcomes associated with African American men in conventional batterer counseling. Practitioner-researchers recommend culturally focused batterer counseling as an appropriate response to these issues. Culturally focused counseling includes a curriculum that identifies specific cultural topics, counselors who respond to emergent cultural issues, and racially homogeneous groups that encourage disclosure. However, the outcome research on culturally sensitive counseling and racially homogeneous counseling is generally limited and offers only tentative support for culturally focused batterer counseling. Only preliminary research has focused on culturally focused batterer counseling. Further research needs to include clinical trial evaluations that control for cultural identification to substantiate the effectiveness of culturally focused batterer counseling. Finally, other components, including specialized case management, community linkages, and collaboration in social change efforts, might also be necessary to achieve a substantial improvement in counseling outcomes. Author biographies, 5 suggested further readings, and 73 references (Author abstract modified)