Intervention for men who batter: a review of research.

This article reviews the research on the effectiveness of social service interventions for men batterers in North America. Despite the increasing use of criminal justice and social service interventions for batterers such as formation of mens groups couple counseling and community intervention projects the evidence of their efficacy is not clearly established. Recent studies on batterer intervention increase the understanding of the potential benefits and limitations of the present responses to male violence. The research on criminal justice system response does not yield any conclusive answers on how to effectively respond to male violence. In addition well-executed studies rarely provide clear-cut direction in policy and practice but rather become part of an on-going dialogue on how to address the social problems. In this light arrest alone is not at all times a better hindrance than nonresponse nor is it worse than other interventions. On the contrary when paired with other system responses like prosecution and mandates to counseling there is an evidence that coordinated responses by communities can be a deterrent to subsequent violence by men towards their female partners. Recent studies are now beginning to depart from pre-post or post-hoc evaluations of single programs towards randomized comparisons of interventions or intervention structures. The contradictory patterns of outcomes suggested in recent research calls for broader intervention and prevention efforts to end violence against women.