Treatment compliance of male perpetrators of intimate partner violence

The issue of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has received an increasing amount of media, political and professional attention during the past 50 years. However, there has been mixed findings regarding the effectiveness of established treatment interventions for convicted IPV perpetrators. Practitioners have observed high attrition rates from community IPV treatment delivered by Probation services. The aim of this research was to contribute to the understanding of treatment compliance and behaviour change within male IPV perpetrators, attending such treatment following court referral. A systematic review and meta-analysis identified correlates and predictors of attrition for convicted IPV perpetrators, who had been court mandated into treatment. An analysis of 22 studies found a similar average rate of non-completion was consistent with the range in existing literature. There was evidence to support independent bivariate associations between some variables and dropout from treatment, for example: age, marital status, education level, level of income, employment status, previous recidivism and severity of IPV. However, due to the heterogeneity across study designs, delivery and evaluation, there was no agreement on how these variables may interact as a model of prediction for treatment attrition. Following these findings, an empirical study, comprising of two parts, was designed to identify predictors of court mandated IPV treatment attrition and to promote treatment compliance of an IPV community intervention. Part one investigated the characteristic differences between IPV treatment completers and dropouts. The sample was made up of 574 men court mandated into IPV treatment. A logistic regression model was developed to identify men that are more at risk of dropping out of treatment. The analysis demonstrated that the model of significant predictor variables could correctly predict the criterion variable of treatment dropout with 75.8% correct classification of cases. Part two evaluated the use of the Personal Aspirations and Concerns Inventory for Offenders (PACI-O; Campbell, Sellen, & McMurran, 2010), which was delivered as a single session pre-treatment intervention to motivate IPV perpetrators to attend a community IPV treatment. The sample consisted of 55 male IPV perpetrators court mandated to the IPV group intervention. Findings showed that participants that completed the PACI-O were 1.4 times more likely to complete the IPV intervention programme than the 574 men within the control sample that did not undertake the PACI-O. Further applications and limitations of the PACI-O were explored. These primary research studies, were followed by a single subject case study of a participant that completed a group IPV intervention but went on to receive a further IPV conviction. The case study highlighted the limitations of group treatment, within a management plan to reduce recidivism and these limitations were explored in relation to the practical implications for child contact matters. The administration of routine risk assessments was brought into question. Hence, a critical appraisal of the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment – Version 3 (Kropp & Hart, 2015) was carried out. This is the licenced risk assessment tool used with Probation service users with IPV convictions in England and Wales. The lack of routine implementation was found which suggested that the use of this risk assessment tool was a “hit and miss” affair and recommendations are made. The conclusion of this thesis details the forensic practice implications of the findings and how they may enhance the effective delivery of IPV treatment within community Probation settings