Type:	Journal Article
Title:	The San Diego navy experiment: for men who assault their wives
Other Titles:	Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Authors:	Dunford, Franklyn W
Keywords:	Perpetrator programs;Perpetrators;Counselling;Prevention
Year:	2000
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Citation:	68 (3), 2000
Notes:	General Overview: :This paper reports on the San Diego Navy Experiment, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural interventions implemented in different treatment programs for men who physically assault their partners. Methods: This experiment randomly assigned navy men who had assaulted their wives to one of four groups. The men’s group used cognitive-behavioural therapy and met weekly for six months and then monthly for six months. The conjoint, or couples group also used cognitive behavioural therapy for twelve months. The rigorous monitoring group were seen monthly for individual counselling and their wives were called and asked about new instances of abuse. The control group of men received no treatment but their wives were provided with safety planning information. Discussion and findings: The author notes that evaluations of perpetrator programs rarely use experimental designs, meaning there is a lack of reliable information about how to best treat perpetrators. The study found that 83% of the men in treatment did not re-injure their wives in the twelve month outcome period. However, this recidivism rate was the same as the rate for the control group, indicating that cognitive behavioural therapy was not responsible for the low recidivism rate. The author calls for further use of experimental method, including control groups, in order to identify the most effective treatments. It may be that more individualised treatment is necessary.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12201
ISSN:	0022-006X
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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