Group Treatment for Aggressive Women: An Initial Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 216581
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 21 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2006 Pages: 341-349
• Author(s): Leslie M. Tutty; Robbie Babins-Wagner; Michael A. Rothery
• Date Published: July 2006
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article reports the results of a preliminary evaluation of a group treatment program for aggressive women in Calgary.

Abstract

Initial evaluation results indicated that the women attending the group program reported serious levels of physical and non-physical partner abuse. Group members reported clinically significant problems that included stress, depression, low self-esteem, and marital and family conflict. The Responsible Choices for Women program was effective at reducing non-physical abuse, elevating self-esteem, increasing contentment, decreasing clinical stress, and raising assertion. Despite these gains, the women’s scores on self-esteem, depression, and stress remained within the clinical ranges. The program did not have an impact on martial satisfaction or family relationships. Comparisons of the women who completed the program with the women who did not complete the program revealed no significant differences on any of the measures. The findings suggest that the Responsible Choices for Women program should consider adding a component to the program that includes work with the partner and the children. The program should also not be used as a sole intervention given the fact that clinically significant problems remained for some of the women following the intervention. Research methodology involved gathering data from the 72 women who began the Responsible Choices for Women program at 3 points: (1) prior to the program beginning; (2) midway through the program; and (3) following program completion. Additionally, the characteristics of the 42 women who completed the program were compared to the characteristics of 24 women who did not complete the program. The women completed measures assessing physical and non-physical partner abuse, self-esteem, marital satisfaction, generalized contentment, family relations, clinical stress, self-expression, and sex role ideology. Data analysis relied on a repeated measures analysis of variance to test for changes over the three data collection periods. Future research should focus on the impact of dual arrests and subsequent mandated treatment for women living in abusive relationships. Tables, references