Do Batterer Intervention Programs Serve African American and Caucasian Batterers Equally Well? An Investigation of a 26-Week Program

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to (a) evaluate a 26-week batterer intervention program by investigating changes in psychological variables related to abuse (i.e., truthfulness, violence, lethality, control, substance use, and coping abilities) between pretreatment and post treatment assessments in a sample of men involuntarily placed in treatment and (b) to investigate the differential effectiveness of this same program for African American and Caucasian batterers. Method: The study employed a secondary analysis of 142 treatment-completers who were randomly selected from a larger pool of 733 men. Results: Analysis failed to provide empirical support for the contention that both African American and Caucasian batterers would demonstrate significant changes, in the desired direction, on psychological variables related to violence, as a result of their participation in a 26-week batterer treatment program. Conclusion: Implications of the findings for social workers are explored and discussed.