perpetrator

Domestic Violence/Partner Abuse Treatment

Current Treatment and Assumptions

Whenever a battery/domestic abuse case in brought in front of a court, mandated treatment is usually part of the sentence in every jurisdiction of the United States (Dankwort & Austin, 1999). The most common model of treatment in state-sanctioned programs is called the Duluth model. It is a 12-52-week mandatory intervention following arrest that presumes battery to be a male offense influenced in large part by patriarchal values.

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE – CHARACTERISTICS OF ABUSERS AND VICTIMS

Partner abuse is a worldwide problem; between 10% and 50% of all women report having been abused by their intimate partners at some point in their lives (World Health Organization, 2001). In the US, intimate partner violence is reported by 1.5 million women and 800,000 men (Gondolf & Jones, 2002). In addition, there are many more cases that are unreported to the police, mental health professionals and even researchers. Victimization is often kept secret due to embarrassment, fear of retaliation by the perpetrator, the wish to avoid legal intrusions into their lives, and the belief that abuse is unavoidable and universal.