What's In It for Me? Motivating the Untreated Abuser to Consider Treatment.

This paper presents findings of a second trial evaluating telephone-based motivational enhancement therapy (MET) to motivate untreated and unadjudicated men who abuse their intimate partners to explore treatment options. Participants' perceptions of how their abuse is negatively affecting them personally are a highlight of the paper. One hundred forty-one adult men were recruited through social marketing and randomly assigned to the intervention (MET) or comparison (Mail) group. The MET condition consisted of two feedback sessions guided by a personalized feedback report on participants' intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use. The Mail condition included a mailed educational brochure on IPV and substance use. Results supported the likely effectiveness of MET in short-term reduction of IPV behavior, marijuana use, and increasing motivation for treatment seeking particularly for participants who reported more adverse consequences of IPV to themselves. Findings emphasize the importance of including a focus in interventions on IPV's impact on the abusers themselves. The study's virtual participation and success in reaching and retaining a diverse population of male abusers can contribute to transformative justice and communities looking for alternative early interventions for men of color prior to encountering the criminal justice system.

A Self-Determination Model of Childhood Exposure, Perceived Prevalence, Justification, and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence.

The present research was designed to evaluate self-determination theory as a framework for integrating factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. The proposed model suggests that childhood exposure to parental violence may influence global motivational orientations which, in turn result in greater cognitive biases (overestimating the prevalence of IPV and justification of IPV) which, in turn, contribute to an individual's decision to use abusive behavior. Participants included 124 men who had engaged in abusive behavior toward an intimate partner. Results provided reasonable support for the proposed model and stronger support for a revised model suggesting that controlled orientation, rather than autonomy orientation, appears to play a stronger role in the association between childhood exposure to parental violence and cognitive biases associated with abusive behavior.

EXPOSURE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL ABUSE: Childhood Domestic Violence Exposure among a Community Sample of Adult Perpetrators: What Mediates the Connection?

The association between childhood exposure to domestic violence and later intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in adulthood has been well established in the literature. However, the literature examining the factors of exposure that contribute to perpetration in adulthood is fraught with mixed findings, with some studies finding a direct link between childhood domestic violence exposure and later IPV perpetration and others ruling out a link after controlling for other contextual barriers such as community violence and socioeconomic status. This study examined 124 non-treatment-seeking and unadjudicated adult male IPV perpetrators and found exposure to domestic violence in childhood contributes to the normalization of violence, which could predict future adult IPV perpetration. Practice implications are discussed, namely primary and secondary prevention of intimate partner violence.

A Telephone Intervention for Substance-Using Adult Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence.

OBJECTIVE: To preliminarily evaluate telephone-delivered motivational enhancement therapy (MET) in motivating unadjudicated and nontreatment seeking intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators, who also use substances, to self-refer into treatment. METHOD: 124 adult men were recruited via a multimedia marketing campaign and were randomly assigned to the intervention (MET) or comparison group following a baseline assessment. Participants in the MET condition received a personalized feedback report on their IPV and substance-use behaviors, consequences, and social norms beliefs. RESULTS: Results supported the likely effectiveness of MET in short-term reduction of IPV behavior, increasing motivation for treatment seeking, and changing perceived norms for IPV and substance abuse (SA). CONCLUSIONS: Applications for brief MET interventions to facilitate voluntary treatment entry among substance-using IPV perpetrators are discussed.

Normative misperceptions of abuse among perpetrators of intimate partner violence.

This research was designed to evaluate the applicability of social norms approaches to interventions with male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV). Participants included 124 nonadjudicated IPV perpetrating men recruited from the general population who completed assessment of their own IPV behaviors via telephone interviews and estimated the prevalence of behaviors in other men. Results indicated that IPV perpetrators consistently overestimated the percentage of men who engaged in IPV and that their estimates were associated with violence toward their partner over the past 90 days. Findings provide preliminary support for incorporating social norms approaches into clinical applications.

Evaluating the impact of intimate partner violence on the perpetrator: the Perceived Consequences of Domestic Violence Questionnaire.

Surprisingly, little is known about how IPV perpetrators perceive the conse quences of their violent behavior. This article describes the development and evaluation of the Perceived Consequences of Domestic Violence Questionnaire (PCDVQ). The PCDVQ is a 27 item self report instrument designed to assess the consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) as perceived by the perpetrator. Data from 124 nontreatment seeking, male, IPV perpetrators recruited from the community provided support for the internal consistency of the PCDVQ. Participants reported an average of 9.97 (SD = 4.57) consequences. Scores on the PCDVQ significantly predicted motivation for change, beta =.19, t(113) = 2.03, p < .05, and treatment seeking, chi(2)(df = 1) = 10.79, p < .01, odds ratio = 1.27 (95% CI: 1.10 1.46). Clinical implications of this instrument are discussed.

Development of a Marketing Campaign to Recruit Non-adjudicated and Untreated Abusive Men for a Brief Telephone Intervention.

Although voluntary enrollment by abusive men in domestic violence perpetrator treatment programs occurs, most men enter treatment only after they have injured a partner or family member and have been arrested, convicted and sentenced. This leaves a serious gap for those who engage in abusive behavior but who have not been served by the legal or social service systems. To address this gap, the researchers applied social marketing principles to recruit abusive men to a telephone-delivered pre-treatment intervention (the Men's Domestic Abuse Check-Up-MDACU), designed to motivate non-adjudicated and untreated abusive men who are concurrently using alcohol and drugs to enter treatment voluntarily. This article discusses recruitment efforts in reaching perpetrators of intimate partner violence, an underserved population. Informed by McGuire's communication and persuasion matrix, the researchers describe three phases of the MDACU's marketing campaign: (1) planning, (2) early implementation, and (3) revision of marketing strategies based on initial results. The researchers' "lessons learned" conclude the paper.