Bringing Strengths Based Batterer Intervention To Merced County

Across the United States, millions of people are impacted by domestic violence each year. Short- and long-terms effects of such violence on victims can include physical injuries, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alcohol and drug abuse or dependence. Across the country, law enforcement agencies partner with local court systems and treatment agencies to provide services aimed at reducing the occurrence of violence in the home. In California, Penal Code Section 1203.097 requires that perpetrators of such abuse attend a certified batterer intervention program (BIP) for 52 weeks. The field of batterer intervention has existed in the United States since the early 1970s and it has been argued that the most widely used model of treatmen--the Duluth mode--is outdated and inconsistent with contemporary knowledge. The following document outlines a project involving the design and implementation of an alternative BIP in Merced County, California that was rooted in theories and methods consistent with evidence-based interventions and social work practice principles. This was accomplished through collaboration with key parties, including an agency providing batterer intervention services in Merced County, the Merced County Probation Department, and the author of a curriculum that met the desired criteria. More specifically, the project involved performing the groundwork necessary for a non-profit agency, Total Self Insight, Inc. (TSI), to set up a new pilot program that was more clinically appropriate and also compliant with established Merced County Probation Department certification guidelines for BIPs.