Standards for Batterer Programs: A Formative Evaluation of the Illionis Protocol (From Domestic Violence Offenders: Current Interventions, Research, and Implications for Policies and Standards, P 181-197, 2001, Robert A. Geffner and Alan Rosenbaum, eds. -- See NCJ-197536)

• NCJ Number: 197547
• Author(s): Larry W. Bennett; Neil Vincent
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Haworth Maltreatment and Trauma Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the Sixth International Conference on Family Violence Research, Durham, New Hampshire, July 1999.

Annotation

This article presents and analyzes data from a 3-year formative study of the Illinois Protocol for Domestic Abuse Batterers Programs.

Abstract

The Illinois Protocol provides direction to prospective batterer programs in the following areas: declaration of principles (e.g., the primary goal of batter programs is cessation of abuse of female intimate partners); service coordination; program approaches, including suggestions about goals, format and structure, content, and components; core standards (ethics, confidentiality, reporting, accountability, and fees); staff selection and training recommendations; and maintenance of a 22-item database. The evaluation conducted by the authors of this article focused on how the standards have affected the way batterer intervention programs deliver services to male batterers; how the standards have impacted community efforts to prevent violence; and how the standards have affected judicial sentencing for domestic violence. The evaluation obtained data and information from surveys of 50 victim service agencies, 63 batterer programs, and 823 men in 27 batterer programs. It also conducted interviews with 146 key informants, including judges and prosecutors, battered women's advocates, and batterer program staff. Evaluation findings suggest that the Illinois Protocol has met its goals, although with some unintended consequences. The primary effects of the standards involve the provision of a structure for programs that work with male batterers, the structuring of collaboration among batterer programs and victim service agencies, an increased judicial confidence that batterers are being served appropriately, and the provision of a stimulus for victim programs to think about batterer programs. Some unintended consequences of the standards are impingement on victim agencies, both in terms of the time demanded for collaborative work and support for batterer programs they cannot control, along with support for substance abuse and mental health providers who wish to develop batterer intervention programs. 5 tables and 20 references