ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses some principles that provide direction for the design of domestic violence interventions likely to reduce male perpetration of abuse against their female partners. Under the influence of research on evidenced-based practice in the effective corrections literature, correctional programmes have been developed in Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, and New Zealand based on the principles of risk-need-responsivity (RNR) proposed by Andrews and his colleagues. Advocates have critiqued the emphasis on anger management in the treatment of partner violence perpetrators, going so far in many states in the US to prohibit the use of anger management interventions in their treatment guidelines. A key element of responsivity is the development of programme content sensitive to diversity. Culture and its impact in establishing the gender roles of women and men and proscribing appropriate intimate behaviour is perhaps more critical in interventions related to intimate partner violence (IPV) than in any other area of correctional intervention.