Do Batterer Subtypes Actually Matter?: Treatment Completion, Treatment Response, and Recidivism Across a Batterer Typology

• NCJ Number: 223329
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal Volume: 35 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2008 Pages: 710-724
• Author(s): Matthew T. Huss; Anthony Ralston
• Date Published: June 2008
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): R03 MH058929-01
• Sponsoring Agency: Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation; National Institute of Mental Health; Creighton University
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined a clinical sample of batterers to identify whether there were differences across batterer subtypes in regard to treatment completion, immediate treatment response, and recidivism.

Abstract

Research found that batterers who attended more treatment sessions and completed treatment were less likely to recidivate. Analyses produced three different categories of batterers based on psychopathology and generality and severity of violence: generally violent/antisocial (GVA), borderline/dysphoric (BD), and family-only (FO) batterers. FO batterers completed significantly more treatment sessions than the other two batterer types. However, GVA batterers attended the same number of treatment sessions statistically as the BD batterers. When examining group differences in terms of whether they completed treatment or did not complete treatment, FO batterers were much more likely to complete than BD batterers and GVA batterers. All batterers reported significant reductions in self-reported violence toward their partners, with FO batterers reporting greater violence reduction compared to BD and GVA batterers, both at pre- and posttreatment. However, GVA batterers’ posttreatment self-reports of violence were similar to those of the BD batterers. GVA batterers were less likely to be involuntarily seeking treatment because of past legal conviction. However their initial self-referral for therapy may have been the result of a pending legal charge that had not been adjudicated prior to treatment and that actually made them more likely to reduce their self-report of anger and violence toward their partner as treatment progressed. GVA batterers reported the lowest levels of overall empathy pretreatment; the different batterer subtypes did not report significant improvements in overall empathy posttreatment, nor did they differ between groups in regard to treatment differences. Results clearly suggest that the more pathological batterers attended fewer sessions and were less likely to complete treatment. These results lend further support to the importance of recognizing individual differences among batterers. Data were collected from 175 men either self-referred, or court-referred for anger-control or domestic violence treatment. Tables, figure, references