Violence Against Women: Synthesis of Research on Offender Interventions Final rept

摘要

This report provides an overview of the latest research on interventions for men who assault women-wives, girlfriends, and acquaintances. The assaults may be physical or sexual, and they almost always involve psychological abuse. The overview begins with a description of the major components of current programs and then describes what is known about effective assessment and treatment methods. Several topics are covered that are often of interest to practitioners, including methods for enhancing treatment motivation, assessment of dangerousness, and culturally competent practice. The role of research in resolving controversial issues and the characteristics of sound evaluations are also discussed. Because the domestic violence and sexual assault fields developed separately, with separate service and research traditions, many sections of this report address these two areas of interventions separately. One reason for the distinct systems is that sexual assault offender programs tend to serve a greater variety of offender types, including rapists and child molesters inside and outside of the family, and both juvenile and adult offenders.