The Evolution of Battering Interventions: From the Dark Ages Into the Scientific Age

Source: (2007) In John Hamel and Tonia L. Nicholls, Ed., Family Interventions in Domestic Violence. New York, USA: Springer Publishing Company. Pp. 215-244 .

“We have offered several suggestions for new ways of working with both male and female perpetrators of IPV. While the body of research available to draw from when developing interventions may not be as large as other areas, such as depression or anxiety, clear advances have been made over the several years in understanding factors related to domestic violence. Appreciating the heterogeneity among perpetrators of IPV in terms of psychopathology, ethnicity, and gender is important. However, we lag behind in developing efficacious interventions for these identified subgroups. Subtyping perpetrators (see chaper 7 in this volume) will likely only prove clinically useful once we have established functional relationships between the subgroups’ issues and their abuse. Basic research on emotions and emotional dysregulation as well as couples’ communication skills can also inform the development of new battering interventions. Anger and shame may prove to be clinically useful treatment targets for battering interventions. With our improved knowledge of factors influencing domestic violence perpetration and increasing dissatisfaction with the status quo, it appears that we are poised to break from our “prescientific” tendency to cling to theories that clearly do not address our needs and to build on our research base to design new, more effective interventions.” (excerpt)