NCJ Number
211035
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2005 Pages: 336-359
Date Published
September 2005
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study compared two gender-specific domestic violence intervention programs in two States
Abstract
Women are increasingly being arrested for domestic violence offenses as the result of mandatory arrest policies, leading to an increase in women who are court-mandated to treatment programs. Most domestic violence intervention programs were designed for male abusers, raising questions about their effectiveness and appropriateness for females, particularly battered women with victimization histories. The practice of mandating treatment programs for battered women arrested as part of dual arrests raises questions concerning the events that led to their arrest, as well as general questions regarding the challenges of using gender-neutral programs to address the gender-specific problem of domestic violence. The current study compared and contrasted two domestic violence intervention programs in different States, one for male abusers (BIP) and one for female offenders (FOP); both contain program content originally designed for male batterers. The analysis focuses on understanding programmatic goals and outcomes and on the appropriateness or usefulness of treating female battering victims who use violence in response to their partners’ violence. Program philosophies for the BIP and FOP programs are described, as are their operations and general group dynamics. The authors observe that the endorsement of treatment programs for female domestic violence arrestees obscures the causes that facilitate domestic violence in the first place, identified as gender-power dynamics resulting from the domination of patriarchal sociocultural values. Notes, references