Facilitators of probation-based domestic violence perpetrator programmes: ‘Who’s in the room?’

The role that probation practitioners play in the desistance process has begun to receive much needed attention. Yet, the experiences of facilitators of probation-based, domestic violence perpetrator programmes have long been neglected. This article explores the experiences and wellbeing of eight facilitators from one cohort of the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme in England. Drawing upon five-months’ observations and in-depth interviews, I demonstrate how working with domestically violent men with insufficient knowledge, experience, or support, exacerbated within the context of Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, impacted significantly on facilitator well-being, professional identities, and practice. Practice implications are discussed.

General Criminality as a Marker of Heterogeneity in Domestically Violent Men: Differences in Trauma History, Psychopathology, Neurocognitive Functioning, and Psychophysiology

This study examined whether involvement in general criminal behavior was a useful marker of critical historic, psychological, and cognitive aspects of heterogeneity in domestically violent men. Two subgroups of domestically violent men, those with ( n = 56) and without ( n = 54) a history of criminal involvement, were compared with a group of nonviolent men ( n = 82) on internalizing psychopathology, substance abuse, maltreatment in the family of origin, cognitive and executive functioning, and psychophysiological factors. Results found that domestically violent criminal men scored higher than the other two groups on a number of measures including history of childhood violence exposure, childhood externalizing behavior, and adult internalizing psychopathology. No differences were found on their psychophysiological reactivity and cognitive performance. The domestically violent noncriminal group and the comparison group were largely similar on study variables with the exception of education and substance use. Results suggest that general theories of antisocial behavior may be relevant and helpful for understanding domestically violent and criminally involved batterers, whereas social and family violence theories may be of greater relevance to noncriminally involved batterers. Implications of these results for intervention are considered.

Nonfatal Strangulation in a Sample of Domestically Violent Stalkers: The Importance of Recognizing Coercively Controlling Behaviors

Strangulation is different to other types of physical violence as it often leaves no visible injuries and is frequently motivated by coercive control. Few studies have explored nonfatal strangulation and coercive control, and no studies have explored these factors within a sample of stalkers. Given that stalking perpetrators exhibit many of the coercively controlling behaviors related to nonfatal strangulation, the current study explored nonfatal strangulation and other coercively controlling behaviors in a stalking sample. A police dataset of 9,884 cases of domestic violence that involved stalking was analyzed. Results revealed that coercive control and related behaviors of excessive jealousy, victim isolation, victim fear, and victim’s belief that the perpetrator will kill them were associated with higher likelihood of having experienced nonfatal strangulation. These results may help first responders to identify victims at risk of nonfatal strangulation and suggest a need for nonfatal strangulation to be a criminal offense.

Surviving Domestic Violence in an Indian-Australian Household: An Autoethnography of Resilience

This study explores how my personal experiences with domestic violence in my family have shaped my identity and my current self as an Indian-Australian woman, teacher, and researcher. Domestic violence touches many children and their families and affects their sense of identity and belonging as individuals and in their social spaces. An autoethnographical method is used to investigate my experiences within a domestically violent family and how it has shaped my identity as an Indian-Australian woman. The study reveals various themes including three themes that were noted to be the most significant: patriarchy in Indian culture, resilience, identity and belonging. The study reveals my ongoing struggle in a domestically violent household, feeling torn between protecting my mother and protecting myself. It offers insights into how cultural backgrounds, social frameworks and social values and beliefs may influence others and their development as a person.