NCJ Number
173329
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 1997 Pages: 373-388
Date Published
1997
Length
16 pages
Annotation
A comparative multisite evaluation was conducted for four "well-established" batterer programs in geographically distributed cities to assess the pattern of recidivism ("reassault").
Abstract
A total of 840 batterers were recruited and tested at program intake at each site (210 per site). The batterers and their partners were interviewed by phone every 3 months for 15 months after intake, with a response rate for the female partners of nearly 70 percent for the full follow-up. According to initial victims, 31 percent of the men recidivated or reassaulted during the follow-up. The reassault rate varied only slightly when adjusting for new partners (32 percent) or no partner contact (32 percent), but substantially more when adjusting for reports from the batterers (36 percent) and batterers plus arrest record (39 percent). Rates of verbal abuse (70 percent) and threats (43 percent) were much higher, but 73 percent of the women reported feeling "very safe." Nearly half of the men who reassaulted did so within 3 months after program intake. "Voluntary" participants were significantly more likely to reassault (44 percent versus 29 percent), as were program dropouts (40 percent versus 28 percent). The "well-established" batterer programs apparently contribute to a short-term cessation of assault in the majority of batterers; however, a small portion of the men were unaffected by or unresponsive to the intervention. 4 tables and 30 references