Type:	Journal Article
Title:	The utility of male domestic violence offender typologies: new directions for research, policy, and practice
Other Titles:	Journal of interpersonal violence
Authors:	Gelles, Richard J Cavanaugh, Mary M
Keywords:	Perpetrators
Year:	2005
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	20 (2), February 2005
Notes:	This article provides a literature review of batterer treatment programmes and typology research in the United States, which reveals 3 types of batterers – a low-, moderate- and high-risk offender. It finds that most male offenders do not escalate over time from low to high levels of risk, refuting early claims among researchers that battering escalates in frequency and intensity over time. It outlines and synthesises particular characteristics specific to each type, and suggests that interventions need to be targeted to address the needs of subsamples of offenders to protect those most at risk from future violence, through the prism of typologies. With regard to research and practice, it argues for accurate categorisation of an offender as to the level of risk, so as to avoid the dangerousness of mismatching a batterer to treatment services which could lead the victim into a false sense of security. It concludes that apart from exclusionary criteria such as substance abuse and mental illness, current batterer treatment programmes in the US utilise no mechanisms to match an offender to a specific treatment approach. Few of the evaluation tools in the initial assessments have been empirically based, and their reliability and validity varied widely. Rigorous empirical investigation of standards and treatment programmes is required to identify best practices.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12406
ISSN:	0886-2605
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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