‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’: Towards a variety in programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence
| Author | Mark Rivett,Alyson Rees |
| Date | 01 September 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550505055111 |
| Published date | 01 September 2005 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
05_055111_Rees (JB-D) 27/7/05 3:27 pm Page 277
Probation Journal
Article
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Copyright © 2005 NAPO Vol 52(3): 277–288
DOI: 10.1177/0264550505055111
www.napo.org.uk
www.sagepublications.com
‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred
schools of thought contend’:1 Towards a variety
in programmes for perpetrators of domestic
violence2
Alyson Rees, University of Cardiff
Mark Rivett, University of Bristol
Abstract As the new probation services’ Integrated Domestic Abuse Programmes
(IDAP) are being rolled out over the country, this article seeks to argue that we
should retain a variety of approaches to domestic abuse perpetrators. This
argument is based on a number of themes and is supported by case examples
from a programme that until April 2005 has worked with both voluntary and
mandated perpetrators in Cardiff. These themes can be summarized into: those
that relate to the state of knowledge about such perpetrators; those that relate to
the limits of a criminal justice approach to the problem of domestic violence; and
lastly to the ability of programmes not placed in the criminal justice arena to more
effectively engage perpetrators in change. The particular programme from which
case examples are drawn is one which combines a systemic (Duluth) approach
with a cognitive behavioural one but which also integrates therapeutic group work
methods.
Keywords domestic violence, group work, mandated, motivational interviewing,
voluntary, perpetrator, probation
Introduction
During the last seven years both public policy and practice guidelines with regard
to domestic violence have changed dramatically. There have been many govern-
ment reports and targeted grants to intervene so that the social and personal
consequences of domestic violence can be addressed. These interventions have
277
05_055111_Rees (JB-D) 27/7/05 3:27 pm Page 278
278 Probation Journal 52(3)
led within the criminal justice system to domestic violence courts (Cook et al.,
2004), to the use of risk indicators by police, and to the development of domestic
violence MARACs (multi-agency risk assessment conferences) (Robinson, 2004).
More recently the National Probation Service has piloted two intervention
programmes for men who have been prosecuted for domestic abuse offences.
These programmes must now be rolled out to all probation services by April 2005.
Within this rolling out, concerns have been expressed that the levels of staffing
required have been underestimated (Respect, 2004b), and that the essential
women’s support services are also not being staffed adequately (Bilby and Hatcher,
2004).
This article argues that dealing with perpetrators of domestic violence purely
from a criminal justice framework will neither be as effective as hoped, nor will it
address the broader needs of intervention with abusers. By drawing on the experi-
ence of Cardiff’s Domestic Violence Prevention Service (DVPS), the article also
argues that the development of IDAP will curtail the flourishing of programmes
which combine mandated and voluntary perpetrators. This will occur when the
state of knowledge about which programmes are more effective at changing the
behaviour of which perpetrators is still very rudimentary.
Essentially, we hope to argue that in terms of perpetrator programmes, one size
does not fit all. Therefore, it is important that efforts be made to continue to
maintain a variety of services (the ‘hundred flowers’ of the title). Moreover, relying
on our experience of running a programme within a voluntary agency (NSPCC)
which has been contracted to deliver a perpetrator programme to a probation
department, we would suggest that placing such programmes in such contexts may
help men engage with change in a way that internally delivered programmes
cannot.
Not all abusers are the same
In the last decade there has been increasing research designed to determine
whether all domestic violence abusers share more than their maleness. Certainly,
the commonality of maleness has driven the field of perpetrator programmes since
they began in the 1970s. This explains the (appropriate) pro-feminist stance of
most programmes. However, a series of research studies over the last decade has
begun to suggest that not all perpetrators have the same motivations, personality
structures or degrees of abusive behaviour (Dutton, 1995; Jacobson and Gottman,
1998; Saunders, 1996: Wallace and Nosko, 2003). Here we will highlight two
specific research studies that proposed such differences.
In Gondolf’s (2002) study, which included a sample of 840 men across four
different programme sites, he found that his sample was significantly ‘less patho-
logical’ (p. 96) than previous studies. Yet he still found that 40 per cent of his
sample displayed evidence of ‘narcissistic or antisocial’ disorders. Moreover, a
quarter of the men in his study ‘showed evidence of severe mental disorders’
(p. 97). Hence Gondolf concluded that there was a high degree of difference
between the men on the programmes. Gilchrist et al. (2003), in their review of the
05_055111_Rees (JB-D) 27/7/05 3:27 pm Page 279
Rees & Rivett ● ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom’ 279
characteristics of domestic violence offenders in the UK, believed that the sample
of 336 male offenders could be typologized into four ‘subtypes’. These were men
who displayed antisocial characteristics (the majority); those who were more
narcissistic; those who were less pathologically antisocial or narcissistic; and the
second largest group who were classed as borderline or emotionally dependent.
Again, the conclusion as it has been in many other forms of ‘typology’ research,
is that domestic violence offenders cannot be assumed to share the same
personality types, cognitive models or intervention needs.
Clearly the consequence of recognising this growing research evidence, is that
programmes for perpetrators need to encompass a variety of materials and a
variety of teaching methods. It is not likely that such a variety can be easily included
in a standard ‘one size fits all’ programme that is implemented and monitored
nationally.
Similar arguments have been emerging in the USA about their ‘intervention
standards’ (Gelles, 2001). As UK practitioners might be aware, the USA has led
the world in developing and implementing registered state treatment programmes
for perpetrators of domestic violence. In some states such programmes are strictly
controlled in terms of the length of programme, the content of the programme
and the professional skills of group facilitators. But Gelles (2001: 18) writes that:
Standardizing treatment programs before we know what works, for which men,
under what circumstances, limits and eliminates the development of novel or
innovative approaches to treating violent and abusive men.
In the UK, Gadd (2004) has made a similar...
Probation Journal
Article
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Copyright © 2005 NAPO Vol 52(3): 277–288
DOI: 10.1177/0264550505055111
www.napo.org.uk
www.sagepublications.com
‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred
schools of thought contend’:1 Towards a variety
in programmes for perpetrators of domestic
violence2
Alyson Rees, University of Cardiff
Mark Rivett, University of Bristol
Abstract As the new probation services’ Integrated Domestic Abuse Programmes
(IDAP) are being rolled out over the country, this article seeks to argue that we
should retain a variety of approaches to domestic abuse perpetrators. This
argument is based on a number of themes and is supported by case examples
from a programme that until April 2005 has worked with both voluntary and
mandated perpetrators in Cardiff. These themes can be summarized into: those
that relate to the state of knowledge about such perpetrators; those that relate to
the limits of a criminal justice approach to the problem of domestic violence; and
lastly to the ability of programmes not placed in the criminal justice arena to more
effectively engage perpetrators in change. The particular programme from which
case examples are drawn is one which combines a systemic (Duluth) approach
with a cognitive behavioural one but which also integrates therapeutic group work
methods.
Keywords domestic violence, group work, mandated, motivational interviewing,
voluntary, perpetrator, probation
Introduction
During the last seven years both public policy and practice guidelines with regard
to domestic violence have changed dramatically. There have been many govern-
ment reports and targeted grants to intervene so that the social and personal
consequences of domestic violence can be addressed. These interventions have
277
05_055111_Rees (JB-D) 27/7/05 3:27 pm Page 278
278 Probation Journal 52(3)
led within the criminal justice system to domestic violence courts (Cook et al.,
2004), to the use of risk indicators by police, and to the development of domestic
violence MARACs (multi-agency risk assessment conferences) (Robinson, 2004).
More recently the National Probation Service has piloted two intervention
programmes for men who have been prosecuted for domestic abuse offences.
These programmes must now be rolled out to all probation services by April 2005.
Within this rolling out, concerns have been expressed that the levels of staffing
required have been underestimated (Respect, 2004b), and that the essential
women’s support services are also not being staffed adequately (Bilby and Hatcher,
2004).
This article argues that dealing with perpetrators of domestic violence purely
from a criminal justice framework will neither be as effective as hoped, nor will it
address the broader needs of intervention with abusers. By drawing on the experi-
ence of Cardiff’s Domestic Violence Prevention Service (DVPS), the article also
argues that the development of IDAP will curtail the flourishing of programmes
which combine mandated and voluntary perpetrators. This will occur when the
state of knowledge about which programmes are more effective at changing the
behaviour of which perpetrators is still very rudimentary.
Essentially, we hope to argue that in terms of perpetrator programmes, one size
does not fit all. Therefore, it is important that efforts be made to continue to
maintain a variety of services (the ‘hundred flowers’ of the title). Moreover, relying
on our experience of running a programme within a voluntary agency (NSPCC)
which has been contracted to deliver a perpetrator programme to a probation
department, we would suggest that placing such programmes in such contexts may
help men engage with change in a way that internally delivered programmes
cannot.
Not all abusers are the same
In the last decade there has been increasing research designed to determine
whether all domestic violence abusers share more than their maleness. Certainly,
the commonality of maleness has driven the field of perpetrator programmes since
they began in the 1970s. This explains the (appropriate) pro-feminist stance of
most programmes. However, a series of research studies over the last decade has
begun to suggest that not all perpetrators have the same motivations, personality
structures or degrees of abusive behaviour (Dutton, 1995; Jacobson and Gottman,
1998; Saunders, 1996: Wallace and Nosko, 2003). Here we will highlight two
specific research studies that proposed such differences.
In Gondolf’s (2002) study, which included a sample of 840 men across four
different programme sites, he found that his sample was significantly ‘less patho-
logical’ (p. 96) than previous studies. Yet he still found that 40 per cent of his
sample displayed evidence of ‘narcissistic or antisocial’ disorders. Moreover, a
quarter of the men in his study ‘showed evidence of severe mental disorders’
(p. 97). Hence Gondolf concluded that there was a high degree of difference
between the men on the programmes. Gilchrist et al. (2003), in their review of the
05_055111_Rees (JB-D) 27/7/05 3:27 pm Page 279
Rees & Rivett ● ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom’ 279
characteristics of domestic violence offenders in the UK, believed that the sample
of 336 male offenders could be typologized into four ‘subtypes’. These were men
who displayed antisocial characteristics (the majority); those who were more
narcissistic; those who were less pathologically antisocial or narcissistic; and the
second largest group who were classed as borderline or emotionally dependent.
Again, the conclusion as it has been in many other forms of ‘typology’ research,
is that domestic violence offenders cannot be assumed to share the same
personality types, cognitive models or intervention needs.
Clearly the consequence of recognising this growing research evidence, is that
programmes for perpetrators need to encompass a variety of materials and a
variety of teaching methods. It is not likely that such a variety can be easily included
in a standard ‘one size fits all’ programme that is implemented and monitored
nationally.
Similar arguments have been emerging in the USA about their ‘intervention
standards’ (Gelles, 2001). As UK practitioners might be aware, the USA has led
the world in developing and implementing registered state treatment programmes
for perpetrators of domestic violence. In some states such programmes are strictly
controlled in terms of the length of programme, the content of the programme
and the professional skills of group facilitators. But Gelles (2001: 18) writes that:
Standardizing treatment programs before we know what works, for which men,
under what circumstances, limits and eliminates the development of novel or
innovative approaches to treating violent and abusive men.
In the UK, Gadd (2004) has made a similar...
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