Treatment for Male Batterers - Program Dropout Rates

Dropout rates in battering programs are high, even though courts have ordered most clients to attend. Several studies indicate that 20% to 30% of the men who begin short-term treatment programs do not complete them. A 1990 survey of thirty programs of differing lengths found a wide range in completion rates. Half of the programs reported completion rates of 50% or less. If dropout rates are based on attendance at the intake session, rather than the first treatment session, noncompletion rates are even higher. A 1999 study that documented the dropout rate after the initial assessment found that 59% of those who completed the initial assessment never attended a single session and that 75% dropped out before the ten-week program was over.

High dropout rates in batterer intervention programs make it difficult to evaluate their success. Evaluations based on men who complete these programs focus on a very select group of highly motivated men who likely do not reflect the composition of the group when it began. Since a follow-up is not conducted with program dropouts, the men most likely to continue their violence, research generally fails to accurately indicate the success or failure of a given treatment program.

Certain characteristics are generally related to dropout rates. Bruce Dalton, in "Batterer Characteristics and Treatment Completion," found that the level of threat that the batterer perceived from the referral source (for example, the court) was, surprisingly, not related to program completion (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 16, December 2001). Unemployment is the one characteristic most consistently related to dropping out of treatment. Dalton theorized that these men both have trouble paying for the treatment and have a lower investment in the "official social order."

Other researchers have found that factors influencing completion rates of batterer intervention programs include youth, not being legally married, low income and little education, unstable work histories, criminal backgrounds, and excessive drinking or drug abuse. Voluntary clients, especially those with college educations, remain in treatment longer. Some researchers have found better attendance among college-educated men, regardless of whether their enrollment in a program is court ordered or voluntary. Such findings were reported by A. DeMaris in "Attrition in Batterers' Counseling: The Role of Social and Demographic Factors" (Social Service Review, Vol. 63, 1989); E. W. Gondolf in "A Comparison of Four Batterer Intervention Systems: Do Court Referral, Program Length, and Services Matter?" (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 1999); and J. Jacobs in The Links between Substance Misuse and Domestic Violence: Current Knowledge and Debates (London: Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, 1999).

Nearly all professionals involved in domestic violence prevention and treatment programs concur that batterer intervention programs must address the issue of dropouts. Reducing or eliminating intake sessions and immediately engaging batterers in useful interventions may help to promote attendance and participation by immediately engaging participants in the treatment program. Counselors should provide more information about the purpose of the program in the preprogram orientation sessions. Other suggested retention measures include courtroom assistance, mentors, and stiffer and quicker punishment for dropouts. One study found that home visits after a batterer misses a meeting also help decrease dropout rates. Researchers on this subject include Bruce Dalton in "Batterer Characteristics and Treatment Completion" (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 16, No. 12, December 2001) and A. DeMaris in "Attrition in Batterers' Counseling: The Role of Social and Demographic Factors" (Social Service Review, Vol. 63, 1989).