Behavior Change Processes of Partner Violent Men: An In-Depth Analysis of Recidivist Events Following Abuser Intervention Program Completion

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Portnoy_umbc_0434D_11548.pdf (934.01 KB)

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http://hdl.handle.net/11603/15796

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UMBC Theses and Dissertations

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Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2016-01-01

Type of Work

dissertations
Text

Department

Psychology

Program

Psychology

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This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
Distribution Rights granted to UMBC by the author.

Subjects

Abuser intervention
Intimate partner violence
IPV
treatment effectiveness

Abstract

Despite substantial gains made over the last four decades, intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a significant public health concern. While research has shown that abuser intervention program treatment completion decreases men'srisk for recidivism, a clinically significant proportion of partner-violent men reoffend subsequent to completing treatment. A critical next step in enhancing treatment for IPV perpetration is to understand re-offense among the subsample of men who recidivate following treatment. The present study explored behavior change processes and factors for recidivism among partner-violent men who were arrested for IPV offenses following the completion of a cognitive behavioral IPV treatment program. In-depth interviews were conducted with former clients following their treatment completion in order to explore perceptions of treatment, experiences and change processes after treatment, contextual factors salient to their lives, and obstacles to staying nonviolent. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used in order to generate theory regarding behavior change and recidivist processes among men who experience difficulty staying nonviolent. Emergent qualitative themes revealed intrapersonal, interpersonal, group-level, and community-level factors for behavior change and recidivism.