NCJ Number
114452
Date Published
1988
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Men who had abused their wives and took part in a structured group treatment program were compared with batterers who did not join the program to determine the strategies they used for stopping the violence and the differences between group participants and nonparticipants.
Abstract
The subjects came from the Second Step program for abusers in Pittsburgh. The program consisted of weekly sessions focusing on eight themes: lack of self-awareness, denial, isolation, stress, rigid sex-role expectations, devaluing of the feminine, low self-esteem, and avoidance of conflict. The study samples consisted of 51 participants between 1979 and 1984 and 54 men who had contacted the program but did not participate. Telephone interviews gathered information about their abuse and strategies for stopping. The participants and nonparticipants reported similar levels of violence, but differed in their stopping strategies and other factors. The program participants strongly endorsed the programmatic strategies for stopping violence, while the nonparticipants strongly recommended nonprogrammatic strategies. The nonparticipants appeared to be more transient, resistant to help, and evasive. The men generally relied on willful self-restraint to stop their violence, rather than on personal and social change. They rarely mentioned substantial self-searching. Insistence by battered women that their spouses get help appeared to influence the men to try harder to stop abusing. However, the amount of time in the program and the time since contact with the program did not appear related to stopping the violence. Tables, note, and 17 references.