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Men have, in general, been socialized to hide their innermost thoughts and feelings. As young boys they were socialized to believe that if they were open about their feelings they would be considered weak and unmanly by their peers. "Being strong" and "being a man" meant creating a tough exterior, and not allowing anyone to penetrate that hard shell. Men who batter women have never learned how to cope successfully with angry feelings. All of us have lives full of events that cause us immense stress and frustration, but the abusive male does not know how to relieve his pent-up anger other than by brute force exerted against his wife or girlfriend.Abusive males are often resistant to any type of therapeutic intervention; they often deny that a problem exists. If confronted they will either deny any knowledge of the problem or blame the victim. When in disagreement with their partner, they do not have the communication skills necessary for resolving the conflict by talking.Battering occurs in all races, religions, socioeconomic groups, ethnic groups, and educational levels, but there are certain personality traits that seem to be characteristic of batterers and that distinguish them from nonbatterers. The following is a profile of characteristics common to batterers. It was compiled from Walker's (1979) study of over 400 abused women. According to the women interviewed, the abusive male typically displayed these traits.
- Has low self-esteem.
- Believes all the myths about battering relationships.
- Is a traditionalist believing in male supremacy and the stereotyped masculine sex role in the family.
- Blames others for his actions.
- Is pathologically jealous.
- Presents a dual personality.
- Has severe stress reactions, during which he uses drinking and wife battering to cope.
- Frequently uses sex as an act of aggression to enhance self-esteem in view of waning virility. May be bisexual.
- Does not believe his violent behavior should have negative consequences.
Counseling for abusers can be a most frustrating experience for a social worker, but it can also be a most gratifying one. The reduction and eventual elimination of family violence is an important goal for professionals and lay people alike. The following comments were made by men who had benefitted from participation in the education and counseling program offered by one of the programs in the survey.
Since joining AMEND, the violence I was accustomed to has greatly been reduced. If not for my determination, and AMEND's help, I would have lost everything I've worked for.
Increased self-awareness... has led to increased self-control - [I know] that a reoccurrence [of the battering] would definitely end the relationship.
[I have made] a firm commitment to solve the problem and regain my own self-respect as well as my wife's and children's esteem.
Not ending our fights [by] hitting [her] has forced me to listen to what she has to say and I can agree with her or disagree... [I] tell her how I feet about it and we can come up with a workable compromise. This has also helped me in dealing with my boys...
Understanding what events led to battering and learning methods to prevent them [has helped to decrease the battering].
Discussing our common problems and finding ways to head off my anger to keep it under control makes me feel better about myself. That keeps me from physically abusing my wife. (Commission on Community Relations, N. D., p.2.)
Emergency shelters for battered women have been developing at a rapid pace, growing from 9 in 1973 (Roberts, 1981) to more than 600 by December 1980 (Haas, 1980). This is in sharp contrast to only two programs for abusive men in 1975, which increased to an estimated 80 treatment services as of 1981. The administrators at programs for battered women acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of these women choose to reunite with their partner (Geller & Walsh, 1977-1978; Roberts, 1981). The likelihood is that without treatment the violence will continue, often increasing in severity.Why is there such a disparity in the number of services available to help these men and women? The primary reason is that since the mid-1970s battered women have come forward to request help while men have not. Women have made their need for services known by contacting emergency shelters in record numbers, resulting in buildings which are filled to capacity. At times, shelter staff are forced to turn abused women away (sometimes making other arrangements for emergency lodging) because of overcrowding. Men, on the other hand, have typically denied that a problem exists and have been unwilling to commit themselves to being helped. In the past, few abusive men were referred to social service agencies for treatment of their violent behavior; the needs of this population remained hidden from social service providers.There are several additional reasons for the slow pace at which batterers' programs have been developed.
It should be remembered that just 15 years ago, when the horrors of child abuse were starting to become known, treatment for child abusers was regarded with the same pessimism as that seen in the early public response toward helping men who abuse women. There seem to be many similarities between child abusers and woman abusers. Our current knowledge of child abusers greatly exceeds that which we know about wife abusers. The professional child abuse literature is indeed encouraging. Parents who beat young children do so from a sense of overwhelming frustration and an inability to handle the child's behavior through nonviolent means. While a small percentage (estimated at less than 10 percent by Kempe and Helfer, 1972; Steele, 1975) of child abusers are suffering from a serious psychiatric disorder, the overwhelming majority are capable of change. When the gruesome facts of child abuse were first uncovered, many thought that the best solution was to remove the child from the abusive home permanently. But that was found to be counterproductive because a strong bond of love existed between parent and child. Sometimes, however, it is beneficial for the child to be temporarily taken out of the home until the abusive parent enters into, and makes progress in, a treatment program.The similarities between batterers of children and batterers of women are readily apparent. A small percentage of abused women decide to leave the assailant and live independently, but in most cases the women choose to remain in the relationship. There may be temporary separations, and the abused woman may talk about a permanent break, but it is evident that what most battered women really want is for the relationship to continue without the violence (LaBell, 1979; Roberts, 1981; Walker, 1979).Social workers and psychologists are, with increasing frequency, viewing batterers as capable of change - if they can be motivated to enter into a counseling program. The key factor differentiating child abuse from woman abuse is motivation. It may be that the success rate achieved by child abuse treatment programs has resulted from the parents' recognition that their anger is out-of-control and by their sincere desire to stop beating their child. If wife abusers are determined to change, there are programs which can help them to do so.Service providers have begun to recognize the importance of being responsive when a hitherto hidden problem, such as family violence, surfaces. The relationship between batterers and community programs is now being strengthened. This is a result of: 1) the growing awareness among clinicians; and 2) the emergence of the men's movement which maintains that men have a legitimate right to express their emotions and feelings, and the right to participate with social agencies in the formulation of policy and treatment alternatives for men.With an increasing number of abusers coming forward to seek treatment in family service agencies, community mental health centers and the like, practitioners have been searching for the most appropriate intervention strategies for these clients. Psychologists and social workers have repeatedly expressed their need for policy and practice guidelines to meet the needs of abusers. One of the most basic tenets of the social work profession is that all individuals should be accepted nonjudgmentally and be assured of the opportunity for services when they have problems in social functioning. It is important for counselors to respect the individual client's ability to achieve growth and to believe in the client's capacity to move in a positive direction. Counseling programs for batterers are certainly a step in the direction of accepting the abusive man as an individual in need of service. The delivery of services for wife abusers is a manifestation of community and agency awareness that help is needed for the perpetrator as well as the victim of family violence.This article is based on a national study of 44 programs which provide educational and counseling services for batterers. This study collected information on the policies and practices of these treatment programs. In August 1980, a 29-item questionnaire was mailed to 84 programs for batterers (as published in two installments in Response, the newsletter of the Center for Women Policy Studies, Washington, D.C., April and June 1980). Four respondents reported that their program was defunct or had never become operational. Thus, 80 programs constituted the study sample. A follow-up letter was sent two months after the initial mailing. As of January 1981, responses were received from a total of 44 (55 percent) of the programs. In view of the four-page length and considerable detail of the questionnaire, the response rate is considered quite satisfactory. The responses were representative of a cross-section of urban, suburban, and rural programs from all parts of the United States.This article will examine the following aspects of counseling programs for abusers: services provided, reasons batterers sought help, referral sources, the role of the court, community education, funding, and the programs' self-evaluations of their strongest features and greatest problems.
Counseling for abusive men is an evolving field. While various intervention methods are being examined, the principal model is based on the social learning theory of aggression (Bandura and Walters, 1963; and Berkowitz, 1962). This framework postulates that because violence is a learned behavior, people are capable of changing their behavior and learning nonviolent methods of coping with anger and stress.The programs surveyed share the common goal of eliminating woman battering. They further agree that the violent man needs to be able to take responsibility for his actions and to learn better communication skills so that he is able to resolve personal conflicts nonviolently. A goal of most of the programs is to educate the men about battering and anger control. A few programs have a formal educational component, lasting several weeks, while others incorporate their educational aims informally, in group or individual counseling sessions.The programs have identified the batterers' primary needs as follows:
The most comprehensive programs for abusers believe that it is necessary to provide timely crisis intervention, psychological support at critical times, a structured educational program, and longterm therapeutic intervention.Although all of the programs strive to help the men gain control of their behavior, they utilize different approaches to treatment. A combined counseling approach using individual, group, and, when appropriate, couples counseling, was favored by slightly more than one-third (15) of the respondents. Group counseling was the preferred treatment method for another 13 (30 percent) programs, although most had an individual intake interview. In other words, group counseling (either by itself or in conjunction with other counseling) was utilized by over 60 percent of the programs. However, 25 percent (11) of the programs relied on individual and couples counseling (as needed), without having support groups. Of these, a few respondents mentioned that they would like to initiate group counseling but did not have enough men to do so. There were two other approaches to treatment which were mentioned by five of the programs: Three of them begin treatment by providing a formal educational component which explores causes and solutions for battering. Upon completion of that component, the men are encouraged to participate in individual counseling, a men's support group, and/or couples counseling. The final two respondents use individual counseling exclusively. Although intervention programs for abusers identified different treatment preferences, no one approach has been found to be more effective than the others. Thus, consideration should be given to all of the basic approaches in the development of standards for this newly emerging service.
Programs for violent men can be grouped into three general categories. The first type of program was developed specifically to help men who batter women and are comprised solely of batterers. Two examples are Abusive Men Exploring New Directions (AMEND) in Denver, and Batterers Anonymous, in Redlands, California.The second group consists of recently developed programs for violent men that are part of a well-established community social service agency. Services are provided to batterers as well as to persons with other types of problems. Often the staff have caseloads which combine batterers and other types of clients. Examples are: Family and Children Services of Minneapolis; Catholic Social Services of Wayne County, Michigan; RESOLVE of the Plainfield, New Jersey chapter of the American Red Cross; and Men and Stress Control (MASC) of the YMCA in Bridgeport, Connecticut.Finally, specialized treatment for abusers has also been developed by battered women's programs. Examples are the Sojourn Women's Center in Springfield, Illinois which established a Men's Program; EveryWoman's Place, Inc. of Muskegon, Michigan which now has an Assailant Counseling Program; the YWCA Women's Shelter of Long Beach, California; and Esperanza, A Project for Battered Families in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
There are some distinct advantages to establishing a men's program under the auspices of a battered women's service, but there can be drawbacks as well and these should not be ignored. On the positive side, emergency services for abused women have ready access to a population of women who want to return to their spouse but who also want the violence to end. Sometimes an abused woman may insist that the assailant enter into a treatment program as a condition of the couple being reunited. Having a shelter-sponsored men's program readily available can be valuable in helping the abuser during the time that the battered woman is receiving intervention services.
However, having a men's program which is affiliated with a battered women's shelter may lead to problems. The rhetoric of some women's programs strongly advocates that all abused women make a total break and leave the relationship permanently. Such programs often view the batterer as "no good" and incapable of change. Certainly, for some women in certain circumstances, a termination of the relationship is the best solution, but it is evident that most women want to return to their husband or boyfriend. Women's programs which decide to develop a men's component must be prepared to have it staffed by specially trained male counselors (or male-female co-therapists) who have a nonjudgmental, nonblaming value orientation. If the batterer thinks that upon entering into a counseling program (sponsored by the battered women's center) a horde of unsympathetic, angry women will descend on him, he will certainly not pursue that treatment option. Therefore, it is extremely important not only to hire counselors who are caring and nonjudgmental but also to allay the batterer's fears (whether verbal or unspoken) that participating in a program sponsored by a battered women's organization will result in his being insulted and humiliated.
The staffing of the telephone hotline is another important area for consideration. Most services for battered women have a hotline staffed by women (usually volunteers) who have been trained in helping women in crisis. If these shelters develop a men's program, several questions will arise in regard to the arrangements for helping male hotline callers:
The treatment programs surveyed view battering men as having complex problems. Frances S. Purdy, Director of the Men's Counseling Program of Olympia, Washington expressed an accepting view of men who cannot control their anger:
Batterers are not crazy or hideous monsters. Unfortunately, they are products of a society that trains men to be unfeeling (not uncaring) action-oriented, and programmed that anything less than perfect behavior is failure. Teaching each individual that perfection is a goal and not mandatory for self-love or love by others becomes a weekly recurring theme in the efforts for change.
Psychologist Anne Ganley, in collaboration with Lance Harris, developed and implemented the first residential treatment program for batterers. (It was located at the American Lake Veterans Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Due to funding difficulties, the residential program no longer exists.) Ganley (1981) has identified the following treatment techniques as the ones which are utilized by the most effective programs for batterers:
Descriptions of several batterers' programs are provided below. Their reliance on different treatment approaches is evident, as is their dedication and commitment to helping this troubled population.Abusive Men Exploring New Directions (AMEND). This program, located in Denver, was developed for the specific purpose of helping men "redirect their anger, stop physical abuse, and establish healthier relationships with women." Established in January 1978, AMEND is one of the earliest programs in the emerging field of counseling for violent men. The program is comprised of four phases. Phase 1 consists of the initial contact and screening. Men having additional problems (such as alcoholism) are referred to an appropriate agency for specialized treatment. The abuser meets individually with an AMEND facilitator to discuss his problems. This affords the man an opportunity for "venting of feelings, frustrations, and anger... getting out of the way that which could hinder later progress" (p.1). An additional purpose of the initial interview is to acquaint the abuser with the AMEND program.Phase 2 provides abusive men with a structured educational program lasting four to six weeks. Each participant is given a written outline so that he will know what to expect. The information is presented by the facilitator and is sometimes supplemented by a guest speaker or a film. Each session ends with a group discussion. Another aspect of battering is explored each week. The major topics are: 1) the cycle of violence; 2) anger; 3) communication; 4) self-image; 5) the male image; and 6) understanding women. At the first meeting the participants discuss such group member expectations and responsibilities as confidentiality and notifying the program in advance if a man will be absent from a meeting.In Phase 3, the core of the AMEND program, the men form a support group to deal with their problems.
This is a long-term, open-ended phase which will provide continuing support and input to the end of permanent change. After having participated in the education phase, the members should be at ease in the group and should be more committed... to the group. (p.2)
Phase 4, the final phase, occurs when the man feels ready to terminate his membership in the group.Unable to secure the funds to hire professional staff outright, AMEND developed an arrangement whereby staff salaries are paid through in-kind support from several local agencies (including the Denver Commission on Community Relations, which also printed the program's advertising brochures; WAS Alternatives to Family Violence; and the York Street Center). The staffing pattern is as follows: Chaer Robert, the Project Coordinator, is given release time (varying from 5 to 20 hours a week) by the Denver Commission on Community Relations to administer the program. Robert has an assistant who is an unpaid student intern. The educational and group counseling sessions are led by seven facilitators, each of whom devotes approximately 5 hours a week to the program. These facilitators are professional counselors, employed elsewhere, who work at AMEND through release time from their agency or as volunteers.AMEND's number one problem is the high no-show rate, a problem which was echoed by most of the other respondents. In their experience, approximately 75 percent of the men drop out after only one or two sessions. The coordinator explained that, in her experience: "When the immediate crisis is past and [the] wife/ mate returns home, his motivation often ceases." AMEND is different from many of the other responding programs in that it has a policy of not accepting court-mandated clients. The program staff believe the men should participate because they want to change, not because the court has ordered it.Community outreach and education are considered an integral part of the program. The staff frequently appear on television and radio to discuss their program. They also make presentations to professional conferences. AMEND has developed a readable advertising brochure which provides information on the essential aspects of their services. AMEND has also established a program called Regroup - a group for the wives and girlfriends of the men who are participating in their counseling program. Finally, AMEND offers a 24-hour hotline, operated through the WAS Alternatives to Family Violence Program.Domestic Violence Program of the Beacon Clinic. This program is part of the Franklin County Public Hospital in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Developed in September 1979, it consists of three parts: The first is the initial interview, at which time the program goals are explained and a social history is taken. In part two the batterer begins the education sessions which last for two hours and are held once a week for 12 weeks. During part three the abuser again meets individually with a counselor. Throughout the program the men have the opportunity to receive individual counseling, as needed.The stated goals of the Domestic Violence Program are: "to increase knowledge, influence attitudes and to provide an opportunity to discuss altering the personal behavior which led to entry into the program." The educational sessions are the essence of the program. The group leader is responsible for the educational and counseling functions and is skilled at helping the men discuss their out-of-control behavior. Each participant is asked to keep an "Anger log" in which he makes an entry every time he feels anger. The man records what made him angry and the extent of his anger on a 1-to-10 scale. Each session includes a group discussion of that week's Anger log.To achieve the major objective - ending violence - the sessions strive to accomplish the following: "make [the men] aware of anger; their "triggers"; [learn] where their attitudes come from; unlearn violent behavior; learn alternatives to violence." The men are taught three things which they can do rather than beating their partner. The first is the "walkout" rule, which is to leave the situation and take a long walk "or even better, a run." The men are cautioned, however, not to drive or drink alcoholic beverages at these times. The second suggestion is for the man to call a friend; and the third method is to yell. Although yelling is viewed as a good way to release anger, the group leader suggests that the yelling be done privately so that the wife does not interpret it to be threatening.The staff regard community networking as a major aspect of the program. They conduct training workshops for various human service organizations. In addition to describing their service, the workshops provide an opportunity to develop referral procedures.The Domestic Violence Program is part of a network that provides services for battered women as well as for the abuser. In addition to printing a factual brochure describing the men's program, there is also a wallet-sized fact card which provides batterers with the name and phone number of the Domestic Violence Program. On the reverse side of that card is a concise list of the crisis intervention services available for battered women through the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT). Funding for this service came from the now defunct Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), with an additional in kind contribution from the Franklin County Public Hospital, Beacon Clinic Program.In contrast to the AMEND program, the Domestic Violence Program welcomes court-mandated batterers. Approximately 40 percent of their clients are referred in this way.
As mentioned earlier, the majority of respondents cited group work (either exclusively or in combination with other methods) as the treatment of choice for abusive men. Descriptions of the group process are provided by Laurence R. Barnhill and George Steinfeld, two psychologists who are leading separate support groups for batterers. Barnhill, Coordinator of Outpatient and Emergency Services at the Community Mental Health Center of Bloomington, Indiana, and his associates describe the importance of their ageney's Men's Group for Temper Control:
When the group is functioning it is often small, yet it does appear to be a powerful modality for the men who join. Since many of these men are experiencing a sense of helplessness and threat, we ease them into the group and prefer a conference table style rather than open chairs. Typically, the entry into the group is one of the most powerful experiences in that the apparent relief of (some of) their guilt, shame, and social isolation is almost palpable. Men who have been in the group are able to reach out to the new members more efficiently than the therapists are, and the new member often is surprised to find such reasonable looking men with the same problem, or as one said with a sigh, "I guess I'm not the only bastardout there!" (Barnhill, Bloomgarden, Berghorn, Squires, and Siracusa, 1980, p.87)
Barnhill et al. indicate that group counseling helps the men to change their behavior pattern of not discussing personal issues. Participating in group treatment sensitized them to the fact that their problems were not unique. Being able to share their experiences resulted in the lifting of a burden that each man had been carrying privately. Some of the men reported that they were able to internalize the supportiveness and expectations of the group; in particular, they reported being able to control the impulse to use their fists by remembering that they would need to describe what had happened at the upcoming group session. "The goals of treatment should not be vague such as working on conflict, but should be specific and obtainable such as 'temper control' and/or 'stopping hitting' (Barnhill et al., 1980, p.86). Character change is a slow and difficult process. Thus, it is considerably less threatening when the client is informed that the focus of counseling is to help him learn to control his temper, rather than to change his personality.The Men and Stress Control group, under the direction of George Steinfeld, is another example of a program which provides abusers (and potential abusers) with supportive group counseling in a nonjudgmental and nonthreatening setting. This program is sponsored by the YMCA of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Its purpose is to teach men effective methods of coping with stress. The support groups provide a forum where abusers can share experiences, discuss their common problem, and gain support through mutual problem-solving and feedback from peers. They also learn how to recognize the antecedents of stress and anger, as well as how to cope. Steinfeld (1980) describes the strengths of this support group:
In addition to being a problem solving group, men are helped to understand the communication process, male-female roles in society, the nature of fmily triangles, how anger is self-generated, new strategies for coping with anger and other forms of stress... Many of our men have never had the opportunity to share feelings, are often alienated and lonely and welcome the chance to disclose themselves to others who have similar problems. Group solidarity develops quickly under these conditions. It should be mentioned that we make no value judgements as to whether men should stay married, separate, or divorce. The group function is to help men become aware of their feelings, think through their personal and marital problem, weigh the consequences of their decisions, and take responsibility for their life in a context [of] mutual concern.
In view of the characteristics common to abusive men (for example, impatience, low impulse control, blaming others for their actions, and low self-esteem) it is understandable that psychologists and social workers would use a group treatment approach with batterers which focuses on concrete goals relevant to the here and now.There is a dearth of literature on clinical techniques with woman abusers. The prominent work of family therapists Minuchin (1974) and Haley (1977), although not in the area of domestic violence, has relevance for therapists working with abusive men. Both Minuchin and Haley point out the importance of the problem-solving approach and concentrating on the here and now in working with troubled families. It would be useful for anyone planning to do group work with batterers to review these classic family therapy books.
Victims Informaion Bureau of Suffolk, Inc. (VIBS) in Smithtown, New York. This program is an example of an emergency service for battered women (and for sexual assault victims) which also provides therapy for abusers. VIBS, which began offering therapy for abusers in 1976, was one of the first programs in the nation to provide services for the men.Although this program utilizes individual and group counseling, the preferred treatment method is often couple therapy. The vast majority of the battered women who come to VIBS say that they want to remain married, but they want the violence to stop. Janet Geller, a social worker and former Clinical Director of VIBS, has found couple therapy to be effective because it enables the man and woman to learn wavs of endng the physical attacks together. Initially, almost all the women say that their husbands will not come in for couple counseling. However, when the VIBS counselors offer suggestions on ways the women can encourage their partner to attend, a number of the abusers do attend.
At the first couple therapy session, it is necessary for the abuser to make a commitment to work toward ending the violence. Geller and Walsh (1977-78) cite the three factors which, singly or in combination, are involved in a man's behaving violently toward his wife: "an organic problem; an impulse disorder; and/or a poor self-image, coupled with feelings of impotence and inferiority (p. 630)." Neurological and psychological workups are done to ascertain whether the man has an organic disorder. "The other [non-organic] factors can be treated by a combination of behavioral and psychotherapeutic techniques" (Geller and Walsh, 1977-78, p. 631).Geller and Walsh discuss the cycle of violence which is typical of men who batter their wives:
...each time a husband responds to anger with violence he feels hopeless... if the husband feels guilty because of his inability to control aggressive impulses, the guilt will take one of two courses: internalization and depression, leading to feelings of hopelessness; or externalization of blame, leading to more violence. (1977-78, p. 631)
An important goal of couple therapy is to teach the man how to argue without becoming physically abusive.
Fighting and anger in a marriage are viewed as normal. The couple is taught to accept anger as part of the range of human emotions... Both husband and wife are encouraged to be understanding of the expression of feelings between one another. (p. 631)
The hotline, which is operational for a large part of the day, is a valuable tool in the helping process. A man is urged to call the hotline if he is becoming angry, instead of hitting his wife. "Hotline workers are given a treatment plan developed by the couple's counselor to help them offer appropriate alternatives to modify the caller's behavior and encourage him to vent his anger in a nondestructive way" (Lamberg, 1980). Calling the hotline provides a needed "cooling off" period. When a man has been angry and has experienced the success of not becoming violent, that success is reinforcing, and his self-image is enhanced.VIBS has compiled follow-up data, something that many other programs have not yet been able to do. The results of couple therapy at VIBS are quite encouraging: Battering stopped in every case in which a couple had participated in at least three weeks of therapy.
The hotline has been widely used to help a wide range of people in crisis - from adolescent runaways to battered women. It comes as a surprise, therefore, that the hotline is being underutilized in treating wife abusers. The reasons for this are not clear. Of the 44 programs in this survey, just over half (23) reported having a telephone hotline. (This is in contrast to emergency shelters for battered women which almost always have a telephone hotline.) Eighteen of the 23 programs have a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service. The remaining 5 programs reported that their hotline was operational throughout much of the day and evening, but not for 24 hours.Several of the programs which provide this service have found it advantageous to share the hotline of an established family violence program. The following three programs provide a hotline which is used by abusers as well as by victims of family violence. Batterers in Olympia, Washington can make initial contact with their local Men's Counseling Program by calling a toll-free statewide hotline which operates around the clock, seven days a week. This crisis line is funded by a grant from the Department of Social and Health Services.AMEND reported that, in a 12-month period, there were 93 documented crisis calls referred to their program through the WAS Alternatives to Family Violence 24-hour hotline.During VIBS first year of operation, calls to its hotline resulted in 460 battered women being served. Of that number, 86 women were able to bring their husband to the program for couple counseling.Hotlines have good potential as a referral and information source and also as an outlet which volatile men can use to help them "cool off."
An abusive male may be so resistant to therapy that a hotline may provide an acceptable and anonymous way for him to seek help. While the crisis is unfolding, the man is often overwhelmed by the fear that he is out of control, and the hotline worker has the best chance for encouraging the caller to begin a treatment program. But too often, once the crisis has passed and the man has calmed down, his desire to attend the program is forgotten. While the hotline can provide timely crisis intervention and psychological support at critical moments, it should not be viewed as a substitute for face-to-face therapy. Rather the hotline should be viewed as a facilitator for moving the caller into treatment and as an auxiliary source of assistance for bolstering a man's problem-solving and anger control techniques once he has joined a program (Roberts, 1982, p. 235).
It is recommended that a greater effort be made on the part of counseling programs for abusers to install a telephone hotline or link up with a hotline provided by an established community agency. Once a hotline is available, programs would do well to publicize its existence widely.
Many respondents gave more than one major reason for men seeking help. One of the most significant factors in their seeking help was fear of losing their partner. Sometimes a man entered the program after his wife had left him, as a way of convincing her that he was really trying to change. Sometimes he began the program to placate his partner so that she would not follow through on her threat to leave him. Chaer Robert (1980), administrator of the AMEND Program in Denver, commented that many times the batterer drops out of the counseling program when the crisis has passed and the woman ceases to insist that he get help. Thus, the abused woman's demand that the abuser stop his violent behavior is often a significant factor in getting men to participate in treatment programs.Court-mandated treatment was another frequently cited reason for batterers seeking help. The reason mentioned with the least frequency was the man's recognition that his anger was out-of-control and that he feared he would seriously and permanently injure his partner.Although the batterer's stated reason for participating in a counseling program may be to save his marriage, that is not the purpose of these treatment programs. The primary goal of the men's programs is for batterers to stop being violent. The continuation or dissolution of the relationship (and any counseling which may be undertaken to help strengthen it) is not addressed until the man has made considerate progress in controlling his anger.
Recent data on the number of battered women in this country are staggering: Over 1.8 million women are beaten each year (Straus et al., 1981). With such a tremendous number of victims (most of whom continue to live with the abuser) what is the extent to which counseling is being provided for the perpetrators?It comes as no surprise that batterers are extremely reluctant to enter into counseling. The survey respondents were in agreement regarding the difficulty of getting assailants to initiate (and having begun, to continue) the counseling program. Analysis of the data on the total number of batterers served in the 12 months preceding the survey was limited by the following: Nine respondents left the question blank; four from battered women's shelters did not separate the number of men served from the total number of persons who sought help; and three respondents had statistics for only the past six months. Nevertheless, there were 28 usable responses from which tentative inferences can be drawn.The majority of programs indicated that they had provided services for between 30 and 75 men in the preceding 12 months. In addition, at the lower end of the spectrum, five programs had under 30 clients (reporting totals of 10, 15, or 25 men served for the past 12 months), while at the upper end of the range, three programs had each seen close to 100 abusive men. The data do not indicate how many times each client attended the program. Some respondents indicated that many of their clients attended only once, while a few - those which had a high percentage of court-mandated referrals - indicated that over 90 percent of the batterers remained in treatment for the 4 to 12 week period ordered by the court.How do abusive men learn about the existence of these programs? The overwhelming majority of referrals came from one of two sources: the court or battered women's programs. Specifically, court referrals were mentioned by two-thirds (29) of the 44 respondents. Eleven of the 29 reported that court referrals accounted for 40 to 95 percent of their clients. Battered women's programs were cited as an important referral source by slightly more than half (24) of the programs.Other sources of referral were self-referrals resulting from radio, television, and newspaper publicity, and referrals from police officers, lawyers, relatives, friends, physicians, social workers, and alcoholism counselors. The two referral sources which were mentioned with the least frequency were clergymen and child protection agencies. Although self-referrals were mentioned by more than 75 percent of the programs, the overall percentage of men who seek services of their own volition is quite small.What can be done to bring more batterers into contact with the available services? Two main avenues are recommended: greater use of media and stronger referral linkages.
The public is constantly being bombarded by advertisements for everything from automobiles to soap suds. Although television advertising is expensive, there are many other ways to use the mass media in acquainting the public with a program. The following is a list of no-cost and low-cost ways to let the public know a batterers' counseling program exists:
Too often, liaison activities with other social service agencies are not established. Linkages with a network of community agencies are a valuable avenue for helping batterers receive the most appropriate services. Only a few programs for batterers indicated that they make it a practice to meet with the other service-providers in their community, for example, hospitals, alcoholism and drug abuse treatment programs, police departments, probation and parole departments, the child protective service agency, members of the local clergy, and community mental health centers. The objective in establishing these essential linkages is twofold: first, to acquaint the staff at other agencies with the goals of the batterers' program, encouraging them to make referrals; and second, to learn about the services provided by other agencies (particularly alcoholism and substance abuse programs) to facilitate referrals, when indicated.
Some shelters for battered women have begun a men's counseling component, but among the established women's shelters which have not initiated counseling for abusers, an untapped source of potential referrals exists. Staff of men's programs should try to develop a close relationship with the women's shelters, offering to speak in person to both the staff and the abused women themselves. As mentioned earlier in this article, one of the most important reasons cited by batterers for participating in treatment was the partner's insistence that he do so (sometimes combined with her threat to leave him if he did not change). This being the case, it. is necessary that all beaten women be informed about the existence of treatment for the abuser. Profiles of abusive men typically characterize them as having an intense dependency on their wife. Thus it seems that an ideal time for a counselor to contact a batterer would be while he is feeling lonely, remorseful, and afraid that his wife might not return to him when her stay at the emergency shelter has ended.Linkages are also essential with the criminal justice system, which has been found to be a powerful referral source. Counselors can expect to find some judges who are cooperative and some who are not, but the potential of court referrals is too great to permit an apathetic judge to ruin this vital link. Linkage with the court is an area in which many programs have found that periodic orientation and training sessions related to program goals and activities have yielded substantial referrals.
There are two schools of thought regarding court-ordered counseling for arrested or convicted wife abusers. One is that, for clients to receive the maximum benefit from counseling, they need to participate voluntarily. Court-imposed treatment programs are as far removed from the concept "voluntary" as one can get. Men who attend a counseling program as a result of a court mandate or as an alternative to prosecution may be highly resistant to the counseling process, especially at the outset. Nevertheless, many programs have found that getting the batterer to attend the program is the hardest part of the battle.Several of the respondents to this study indicated that the great majority of their court-ordered clients were receptive to treatment. Because batterers often deny responsibility for their assaultive behavior, a deferred prosecution or diversion program can provide the external motivation necessary to get them involved in counseling. Once the batterer's presence has been ordered by the court, a skilled therapist, in conjunction with peer pressure from the other clients, can facilitate the batterer's taking responsibility for his abusive behavior.Court-mandated counseling can be instituted as an alternative to prosecution, or as a condition of probation. In most cases, court-ordered counseling for batterers is initiated after criminal charges have been filed but prior to conviction of the defendant. When pre-trial diversion is available, it is offered as an alternative to traditional processing of the case and provides that upon successful completion of a treatment program, charges will be dropped. To a lesser extent, some jurisdictions require batterers to participate in a counseling program as a condition of a probation sentence.There was wide variation in the responding programs' attitudes about court-mandated referrals. Slightly less than half (21, or 48 percent) had developed a strong referral linkage with the courts. This contrasts with nearly one-quarter of the programs (10, or 23 percent) which said that the court has no involvement or only a minimal involvement in referrals. There were also those administrators who had had both positive and negative experiences, depending upon which judge or prosecutor was involved in the case (7, or 16 percent). Three programs said there had been very few court referrals, but added that charges against batterers did not usually reach the court. One program had a policy of turning down court-mandated referrals, wanting all participants to attend voluntarily. One respondent states that a relationship with the court was just beginning and it was too soon to know whether it would be productive or not. One program gave no response.
Cathy Waltz, the Director of the Family Violence Project at the Lansdowne Mental Health Center in Kentucky, described the way in which court referrals take place:
In order for the court to make a referral an individual must be in court on an assault related charge against a member of their family or an individual with whom they are involved in an ongoing relationship. If the accused pleads guilty and both the accused and the victim are interested and willing to seek treatment, then the court may order the offender into Lansdowne Mental Health Center for a specific length of time. Generally the court requests periodic reports throughout the period of evaluation and/or treatment in order to insure that the offender is making an effort in treatment. The court also stipulates that the offender is not to engage in any further battering behavior while under the court order or he will become subject to additional sanctions from the court, such as a fine or jail sentence, as indicated at the time of the court order.
The State of Michigan is in the forefront of court imposed treatment with its law (Public Act 353, of 1978) which provides "for mandatory counseling programs as a provision of probation." The law specifies that:
The court will be able to defer proceedings and place the accused on probation with mandatory counseling prior to sentencing. If the conditions are met, the assailant will be dismissed without any record of a conviction, excepting a nonpublic record kept by the State Police Department. The assailant is entitled to two such misdemeanor convictions.
The Rape/Spouse Assault Crisis Center (a component of EveryWoman's Place, Inc. in Muskegon, Michigan) stated that abusers who are taken to court do get referred to their treatment program. However, such referrals have been minimal because so few cases get to court.The Abusive Men's Project (affiliated with Family Services of King County, Washington) receives approximately 75 percent of its referrals from the courts; most of their clients would not have sought help voluntarily.The Domestic Violence Program, Greenfield, Massachusetts, had this highly enthusiastic response:
Our court is very responsive to this need and we have established with them a firm mechanism for referral into our program. In a sense, we are very nearly a court diversion program. Our relationship with the court could hardly be better.
Another positive view was expressed by the Santa Barbara County Family Violence Program, in Goleta, California:
Our program is very involved with the criminal justice system. They offer diversion to men and violate them if they do not attend. They also use our program as a term and condition of probation when appropriate.
Court referrals account for 95 percent of the batterers treated at the Therapy for Abusive Behavior (TAB) program (also referred to as Good Neighbors Unlimited, Inc.) in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Program staff and criminal justice personnel have established an excellent referral system. Patricia Erat, the Program Director, summarized her enthusiastic view of the court in this way:
Our whole judicial system in Anne Arundel County is most cooperative. just a month ago, 1 met with the State's Attorney at his request and 1 now select the most serious cases which are taken directly to the circuit court.
The TAB program provides the courts with a "therapeutic rather than a punitive" option. When a batterer's case first appears before the court, the judge has the discretion to assign the assailant to TAB under the condition that he have regular attendance. Failure to comply with the judge's order will result in the abuser being returned to the court for criminal processing. TAB also operates five facilities where battered women and children can receive counseling.Not all of the respondents' comments were positive. A midwestern program reported that they had no relationship with the court, which was described as "extremely capricious" in its treatment of domestic assault cases. However, the program was laudatory of the probation department which had made many referrals. A west coast respondent summed up his frustration with the lack of court cooperation: "We wish that the courts would mandate counseling, but they don't." Finally, one program which had had both positive and negative experiences with the criminal justice system, described the biggest problem as "getting the prosecutor's office to follow through on police reports, instead of 'letting them cool' for 30 days or reducing the charge to a fineable offense."Court-referred counseling through diversion programs can provide a viable alternative to criminal case processing. Court diversion of wife abuse cases is a way of securing immediate intervention for a group of clients who, until recently, have avoided effective intervention by the mental health and criminal justice systems.In order to increase the effectiveness of this type of intervention strategy, treatment must be initiated within 24 hours of the battering incident which led to arrest. The traditional practice of courts and prosecutors has been to allow the abuser to be released on bail on his own recognizance with the promise that he will appear for an arraignment two weeks later. However, during this two-week delay, the victim often decides to drop the charges, and the batterer's fear of prosecution diminishes with each postponement of arraignment, trial date, or prosecutor. Court personnel need to realize that in order for batterers' counseling to be effective, it must be provided without delay as an alternative to prosecution. Cooperation between counseling programs for abusive males and criminal court judges (as well as local prosecutors) offers much promise, if properly handled.
Although almost all of the respondents (42) indicated that they do some community outreach and education, the level of involvement varies greatly. The types of community education efforts mentioned most frequently were: speaking engagements at meetings of community organizations (32, or 73 percent); offering training sessions for human service agencies, including police departments (21, or 48 percent); and making public service announcements on the radio and/or participating on radio talk shows (14, or 32 percent). The education activities mentioned least frequently were: distributing brochures and/or placing posters in subways and buses (8, or 18 percent); and showing videotapes of their counseling program (3 programs).The purpose of community education is twofold: First, the public (lay people and human service organizations) must be made aware of both the issues surrounding family violence and the availability of this particular treatment program, thereby encouraging referrals at the earliest indication of woman battering. The second goal is to strive for primary prevention through educational activities aimed at reaching young men before they begin to abuse women. There is a generational cycle to woman battering. Today's young boy who witnesses repeated incidents in which his father physically abuses his mother is tomorrow's candidate for woman batterer. Therefore, in cooperation with the schools, educational programs need to be developed which explore the nature of and remedies for family violence.
At the time this survey was undertaken, batterers' counseling programs reported being funded by the following sources: More than one-third (16, or 36 percent) received partial funding from such federal agencies as the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), the Comprehensive Employment and Training Administration (CETA) and ACTION (some of the federal programs cited by respondents are no longer in existence or have been drastically cut back). Voluntary organizations (such as the United Way) were mentioned by 12 (28 percent) programs. Almost one-quarter (10, or 23 percent) of the respondents listed a state or local agency such as the State Department of Social Services or the State Department of Human Resources.Forty-one percent (18) of the programs said they operated with an all-volunteer staff, or a staff made available through an in-kind arrangement with other agencies; these programs received no funding. Private sources (local banks and foundations) provided funding at only 5 (11 percent) of the 44 programs. Five other programs said that they relied on fees for part of their operating budget. (The total number of funding sources exceeds 44 because many of the respondents reported having multiple sources.)Because of the Reagan administration's budget cuts (which have had a harsh impact on the social services), program administrators who, in the past, relied on federal and state agencies for operating funds, may find those allotments cut substantially. Program administrators may need to look to voluntary organizations, such as the United Way, and to private foundations for continued support.Obtaining foundation funding is no easy matter. Especially now, with so many worthwhile programs losing federal support, private foundation money is in more demand than ever before. Although the chances of receiving a foundation grant are slim, it is a possibility that should be pursued. "The types of foundations most likely to fund a [batterers' counseling program] are community foundations. Many times these foundations are named for the city, county or state in which their interests lie, for example, the Rhode island Foundation... (Roberts, 1981, p. 47).Because of the difficulties in obtaining external funding, many batterers' programs may decide to charge for their services on a sliding scale; many programs are already staffed partially or fully with volunteers, and additional programs may find that they need to recruit volunteers in order to remain in operation.
The vast majority of the programs studied (31, or 70 percent) viewed their greatest problem as a lack of motivation and commitment among the men. Respondents stated that the men's resistance to treatment was manifested in the following ways:
Couple Communications, Inc. in Brooklyn, New York, is typical of the respondents who said that the men's lack of motivation was their greatest problem. Don Lamonaca, the administrator of this program, stated that when batterers contact them for an appointment "for every 4 calls, only one will be kept, and for every 3 batterers who initiate counseling, only one will remain for 3 months or longer."The second most frequently cited problem, reported by 21 programs, was indicative of inadequate resources. Of this number, 10 agencies (23 percent) indicated that their major problem was related to personnel weaknesses. (In particular, 5 programs had difficulty because of insufficient staffing; 3 reported that they had no staff to conduct couple counseling; and 2 cited insufficient staff training.) Within this category, 9 other respondents cited lack of funding as their major problem. The remaining 2 respondents listed their foremost problems as no followup of clients. The total number of problems exceeds 44 because some of the respondents identified more than one major problem.
Most of the programs identified expansion of services as their greatest need. The need for additional staff to enable the program to do more diverse counseling and to run additional groups was indicated by 11 respondents. While some administrators discussed the general desire for more counselors, others described the specific staff positions they wanted to fill. If they had adequate funding, three programs said they would hire a full-time coordinator; two would hire a family therapist; two would employ a secretary to help with the paper work and grant proposals; and two would recruit male counselors (this last staffing need was expressed by two women's programs which had developed a men's component but did not have funds for male counselors).A strong desire for more community education was expressed by almost one-half (21) of the programs.Respondents also spoke of the need for program improvements and for changes in the location where counseling takes place. These needs included:
In additon to the specific staffing and service needs mentioned
above, seven programs were interested in learning more about what types of techniques and services are most effective in ending battering. Of these, five programs cited the need for an evaluation study to document the eitectiveness of their efforts, while two expressed the need to gather data on how to improve their services to abusive men.The administrators were asked for their agency's strongest feature; they provided a listing of their strong points as they saw them. Although there was wide variation in the component which the programs viewed in this way, several commonalities were revealed.
Philosophy and Structure:Staffing:
- provision of a comprehensive family violence program where help is provided for children, victims and abusers (11);
- ending the violence (2);
- group therapy sessions (7);
- couple counseling (3);
- community education (7);
- agency's focus on anger control (4);
- provision of 24-hour crisis line with trained volunteers (4);
- services are free or on sliding scale (3);
- agency's focus on prevention services (2);
- agency is part of police department (1);
- home visits (1);
- the only program in the state (1).
- well-trained counselors (6);
- use of male-female co-therapists for counseling (3);
- use of male counselors, exclusively (2);
- ex-batterers providing good public relations (1);
- "Buddy system" (1).
As of 1980, 34 states had enacted laws supporting the development and funding of shelters and support services for battered women. However, state legislatures have moved slowly in creating laws to meet the service needs of abusers. With only a few exceptions, the major inequity lies in the fact that most states have no standards or appropriations to assure the development of services for the abusive male. An encouraging sign is that several states have recognized the need for special legislation for batterers. Five states (Arizona, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin) have enacted laws that authorize court-ordered mandatory counseling for abusers, under specified conditions. Several other states are currently drafting new family violence legislation.Unfortunately, domestic violence is often viewed as a "women's issue." It is true that women have played an active role in developing the emergency services for battered women, and they have also lobbied for federal, state, and local appropriations. But prevention of woman beating is the responsibility of all citizens, regardless of gender. Equitable treatment for families involved in domestic violence can occur only through policies which involve the men as well as the women. Only through sharing the responsibility for the much needed changes can the goal of eliminating woman abuse and strengthening the family become a reality.This author, in earlier research in intervention services for battered women, discussed the importance of developing treatment programs for abusive men:
Service delivery for batterers is beginning to emerge as an urgently needed form of treatment. Since the majority of beaten women who seek refuge at an emergency shelter ultimately return to their husbands, it is vital that abusive men become aware that: (1) hitting a woman is unacceptable behavior and there is no defense, excuse, or explanation which can make it justifiable; and (2) they can learn ways of coping with stress and anger. It is hoped that programs for wife abusers will be developed at an accelerated pace to help the thousands of men who are capable of learning nonviolent methods of problem solving. (Roberts, 1981, p. 166)
What is the outlook for the development of counseling programs for batterers? It is hoped that the established family service agencies, community mental health centers, battered women's shelters, and out-patient psychiatric clinics will be increasing their efforts to provide programs for violent men. In addition to the need for more clinicians to work with this population, there is also a need to recruit community volunteers to do outreach, peer counseling, and/or hotline crisis intervention work. Finally, there is a need for community groups, other than social service providers, to join in this effort. Groups which may be especially helpful include: the clergy, hospitals, corporate foundations, prosecutors' offices, probation departments, and civic associations.The survey described in this article examined the similarities and differences between programs for batterers nationwide. By providing an overview of the programs which are currently working with abusive partners, program planners and clinicians may be better prepared to develop intervention programs for this population.It is difficult to predict long-term "success" rates when treating batterers. A few of the respondents are in the initial stages of planning evaluations. These programs are keeping detailed records so that baseline data on clients can be compiled. Battering can be likened to an addiction to alcohol - an alcoholic may be able to stay away from liquor for a lengthy period, but must always be on guard against a set of circumstances which could trigger a return to the bottle. Battering is viewed as a learned response to stressful experiences and as such, a batterer who seems to have overcome his violent impulses needs to be aware that backsliding could occur at any time.Keeping that in mind, it can be stated that preliminary results of counseling programs for batterers are quite encouraging. For example, the Batterers' Counseling Program of Ann Arbor, Michigan, reporting on its first year of operation, found that violence was diminished in 27 (or 87 percent) of its cases.It remains for further research to build on the survey findings and to increase our understanding of services for batterers. There is little doubt that violent men can benefit from specially designed treatment programs. Further research can help us to answer the crucial question: Which methods of service delivery are most effective in eliminating assaultive behavior patterns, with which types of abusers?