Men's Domestic Abuse Check-Up: A Protocol for Reaching the Nonadjudicated and Untreated Man Who Batters and Who Abuses Substances

• NCJ Number: 222818
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 14 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2008 Pages: 589-605
• Author(s): Roger A. Roffman; Jeffrey L. Edleson; Clayton Neighbors; Lyungai Mbilinyi; Denise Walker
• Date Published: May 2008
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1 RO1 DA017873
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined motivational enhancement therapy (MET) as a potentially effective treatment for batterers who abuse substances.

Abstract

Findings reveal that MET, most widely studied in the substance-abuse field, offers a potentially effective approach to improving self-referral to treatment, program retention, treatment compliance, and posttreatment outcomes among men who batter and who abuse substances. A strategy for using a catalyst variant of MET (the “check-up”) to reach untreated nonadjudicated perpetrators is described in detail. Evaluations of programs for men who batter have shown modest positive effects, but there exists a need to develop empirically tested methods for motivating more men to seek treatment earlier and to stay the course of the intervention. Motivational strategies have been proven to be effective with other hard-to-reach populations and conceptually offer promise of similar success with men who batter and who abuse substances. MET, a brief intervention modality has shown promise in promoting treatment entry and enhancing both retention successful outcomes with a number of hard-to-reach populations. MET is an intervention modality involving an assessment interview and personal feedback about assessment responses. One variant of MET, the check-up, is tailored for the nontreatment seeker, with the intention of eliciting voluntary participation in a “taking stock” experience designed to enhance motivation for change. The check-up can either be offered to those who have been screened and found to present selected risk factors (patients seen in a primary care setting and indicating risk for alcohol disorders), or be freestanding, with a recruitment process that widely publicizes the service and invites inquiry from those who are interested. Unique challenges of evaluating the success of this approach are discussed, including attending to victim safety in determining indicators of increased motivation for change. Figure, references