It's often assumed that abusive relationships are driven by anger. But in reality, it's often power and control that spur violent behavior, said Heartly House CEO Barbara Martin .
Since anger's not the culprit, anger management therapy likely won't help an abuser, Martin said, and judges are ordering those convicted on domestic violence charges into Abuser Intervention Programs, or AIPs.
Fifty-eight people participated in the AIP program run by Heartly House in 2007, slightly up from 56 in 2006. More than half of participants are court-ordered to attend, while the rest come voluntarily, Martin said.
Catoctin Counseling, which offers an abuser intervention program at its branches in Frederick, Westminster and Hagerstown, has served more than 1,000 clients since the late 1990s, director Larry Stouter said.
History
The first AIPs were formed in the 1970s as battered women's advocates broadened their focus from helping women survive abuse to countering abusive attitudes, said Chris Murphy, a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and coordinator of the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County.
"They wanted to start at the root of the problem rather than focusing on the effects of the problem," he said. "They wanted to change men's views of women, since they saw abuse as a reflection of their control of women."
Most programs focus on the same ideals, Murphy said, if not always in the same format. Programs at both Catoctin Counseling and Heartly House focus on the "power and control wheel" model developed in Duluth, Minn., and used in most domestic violence programs.
The model outlines the cycle of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that the majority of abusive relationships go through and the "honeymoon" period that follows such incidents. This power and control model differs greatly from traditional anger management programs, Martin said.
"Abusers don't have an anger management issue; in fact, they're extraordinarily good at controlling their anger, and they use that behavior to control their partner," she said.
Many abusers can be violent and demanding with their partner, but minutes later be calm and collected when dealing with police or others outside the relationship, Martin said.
"(Judges) are missing the mark when abusers are ordered into anger management, but the judges (in Frederick County) are good in making a distinction between the two," she said.
Directors declined to give the gender of those in their respective AIP programs, citing confidentiality.
AIPs vary in length from eight to 12 weeks to as much as a year, Murphy said, depending on the state. Maryland has no requirement for program length. Both programs available in Frederick County are 26 weeks.
Some programs may be too confrontational to bring about real change, Murphy said. In such AIPs, facilitators "are telling (abusers) they're bad but are not engaging them in a process of change," he said.
"One of the big challenges in working with these groups, primarily with people who are ordered to be in counseling, is they're not all motivated to engage in a process of personal change," Murphy said. "You need to get people to look at their own behavior and realize the need for change."
Murphy said while it's natural for some program directors to want to tell participants what they need to do, a successful AIP will motivate participants to change on their own.
"We try to help them make changes themselves rather than dictating to them ... it's hard to do that when dealing with people who are potentially dangerous," Murphy said. "Give feedback, but don't tell them what to do."
Success or failure
A standard of success when dealing with domestic violence perpetrators is difficult to determine, Stouter said. For about one-third of abusers, legal action alone will spur them to change. For another third, one cycle of clinical treatment such as an AIP will help. The rest will likely end up in treatment many times, but that doesn't make AIPs any less helpful for these offenders.
"There's no such thing as a bad intervention," Stouter said. "Over time, people become more willing to look at what's going on. The first time, people blame it on the system or any number of other things, so multiple interventions are helpful."
Most AIP participants have difficulty with relationship skills, communication and problem-solving skills and conflict resolution, Murphy said. Repeat offenders often have deeper-rooted problems that aren't solved in the initial 26-week program, Stouter said, and can be enrolled in treatment for as long as 18 months.
Murphy said most studies show that AIPs have a "small, positive effect" on preventing future violence.
"The success depends on the standard," he said. "There are very small effects when comparing to programs for depression or anxiety. If you compare (AIPs) to rehab programs for criminal offenders, the effects look more in line with those areas."
Some participants have a history of criminal or violent behavior, and others have issues with drugs or alcohol on top of their abuse charges. Every client is different, Murphy said.
"A lot of clients I work with wouldn't fit the violent profile, and there's not a lot of things we see in everybody," he said.
All of the participants in Catoctin Counseling's intervention program have been court-ordered into treatment, Stouter said, but he also works individually with clients who have sought help on their own.
Catoctin also offers family and couples therapy, but Stouter said he doesn't recommend such routes in a situation where there's been recent abuse, as issues or conflicts brought up during therapy sessions may spark further violence at home. He advises that abusers get individual therapy for several months before including other family members in sessions.
But whether it's counseling or court sanctions, no one aspect of the battle against domestic violence is a solution on its own, Martin said.
"When you have an entire menu of options, that's when you are able to keep people safe," she said. "Even when people do 99 percent of everything right, there's still tragedy."
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