Treating Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse

This chapter describes some of the most widely used approaches to treatment and articulate some of the challenges that arise in trying to treat intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA) perpetrators in a correctional setting. The focus is on violence that is perpetrated by men on women. The insight model reflects an individual psychodynamic approach to treatment which focuses on understanding underlying psychological causes of violence. The ventilation model conceptualizes IPVA as an artifact of suppressed anger and emotional repression. The most widely adopted treatment approach is the “Duluth” psycho‐education model. The underlying program theory asserts that the primary cause of IPVA is patriarchal ideology and the implicit or explicit societal sanctioning of men's power and control over women. Two Australian programs are described to illustrate the type of intervention that is often made available to IPVA offenders serving community‐based orders, including those who have been released from prison under supervision.