This research was included in the ANROWS Register of Active Research (RAR). The research has concluded and the output has been added to the ANROWS library. Please visit https://www.anrows.org.au/register-of-active-research/ for more information on the RAR.

Project title: Start of Change: mapping engagement with male perpetrators of violence

Project description:

Holding perpetrators accountable for their behaviour is one of the priorities of the Third Action Plan (2016-2019) of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. Similarly, the Victorian Family Violence Rolling Action Plan 2017-2020 prioritises perpetrator accountability.

Currently a small suite of strategically directed interventions operate across Victoria to hold perpetrators of family violence to account. Principal amongst these interventions are Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCPs). However as identified by the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, the success or otherwise of these programs is difficult to assess.

In the main, research into MBCPs gives limited attention to intake and assessment processes, or the engagement techniques practitioners find most effective in facilitating men’s entry into and completion of programs. This research will investigate the practices and tools used at a service level to engage men, to respond to often different and complex needs, and to foster the motivation in men to see a program through to its conclusion. The project maps and reviews current intake and assessment processes across four service providers of MBCPs in Victoria. Data was collected via consultation with practitioners and semi-structured interviews with key personnel within each of the MBCPs.

The research findings will be shared amongst the service providers in the region and the broader Family Violence sector, and will contribute unique evidence to inform enhancement of MBCPs at the point of intake and assessment – the start of change.

Project contact
Helen Forster and Jacki Holland.
Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand – Women’s Research, Advocacy and Policy (WRAP) Centre

Funding Body
Connections Uniting Care and WAYSS as the auspicing organisations of their Regional Integration Coordinators and Integrated Family Violence Partnerships, in collaboration with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand.

Project start & End Dates
December 2016 – June 2018