The purpose of this study was to examine reasons why batterers drop out of batterers’ intervention programs. A qualitative design was utilized within the framework of Gove’s Prime Physical Theory, Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory and Braithwaite’s Reintegrative Shaming Theory. Data collection included interviewing a sample of 22 court mandated male batterers, who had initially dropped out of treatment and had been reinstated. Participants were from a diverse background. Results indicated five key themes that emerged from the batterers’ responses: (1) An overall lack of trust toward the legal system which greatly contributed to anger upon entering group; (2) a lack of insight/maturity in understanding the ramifications of non-compliance; (3) poor motivation/interest in attending and continuing in group; (4) difficulties reinstating back into the program once deciding to continue treatment; and (5) a sense of not belonging to the group. These findings have important clinical and policy implications. Clinically, the results suggest that decrease dropout is more likely if group facilitators directly address and assist batterers in resolving their anger in the first few sessions. Facilitators also need
to help participants develop insight into how their behavior and choices affect treatment
completion, clearly state the benefits in completing treatment, openly reward batterers for coming to group, and facilitate group cohesion among the members. Suggested policy recommendations include increased education within the judicial and law enforcement systems on how to minimize bias and deescalate anger during the arrest and legal process. This may include factors such as not treating arrestees with bias and structural changes such as calling treatment “Conflict Resolution” as opposed to “Batterers Treatment.” Other policy implications included the need to orient/educate batterers regarding legal requirements and consequences for non-compliance, and reducing barriers to the reinstatement process. Finally, as the legal system plays a major role in the stigmatization and escalation of anger of batterers, future studies should further explore needed organizational changes and the role of shaming in reducing treatment dropout. An examination of treatment dropouts who did not reinstate along with an exploration of cultural differences is also needed.
.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to examine reasons why batterers drop out of batterers’ intervention programs. A qualitative design was utilized within the framework of Gove’s Prime Physical Theory, Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory and Braithwaite’s Reintegrative Shaming Theory. Data collection included interviewing a sample of 22 court mandated male batterers, who had initially dropped out of treatment and had been reinstated. Participants were from a diverse background. Results indicated five key themes that emerged from the batterers’ responses: (1) An overall lack of trust toward the legal system which greatly contributed to anger upon entering group; (2) a lack of insight/maturity in understanding the ramifications of non-compliance; (3) poor motivation/interest in attending and continuing in group; (4) difficulties reinstating back into the program once deciding to continue treatment; and (5) a sense of not belonging to the group. These findings have important clinical and policy implications. Clinically, the results suggest that decrease dropout is more likely if group facilitators directly address and assist batterers in resolving their anger in the first few sessions. Facilitators also need</p> <p>to help participants develop insight into how their behavior and choices affect treatment</p> <p>completion, clearly state the benefits in completing treatment, openly reward batterers for coming to group, and facilitate group cohesion among the members. Suggested policy recommendations include increased education within the judicial and law enforcement systems on how to minimize bias and deescalate anger during the arrest and legal process. This may include factors such as not treating arrestees with bias and structural changes such as calling treatment “Conflict Resolution” as opposed to “Batterers Treatment.” Other policy implications included the need to orient/educate batterers regarding legal requirements and consequences for non-compliance, and reducing barriers to the reinstatement process. Finally, as the legal system plays a major role in the stigmatization and escalation of anger of batterers, future studies should further explore needed organizational changes and the role of shaming in reducing treatment dropout. An examination of treatment dropouts who did not reinstate along with an exploration of cultural differences is also needed.</p> <p>.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gordon, Zoila"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Social Work","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Freeman, Kimberly","Buckles, Beverly","Morris, Teresa"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:08Z","subjects":["Social Policy","Family Violence; Wife Abuse; Child Abuse; Anger; Trust;","Batterers Intervention Programs","Trust Issues","Maturity","Motivation","Sense of Belonging","Anger Management","Stigmatization"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/82","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Freeman, Kimberly","Buckles, Beverly","Morris, Teresa"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gordon, Zoila"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Social Work"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social Policy","Family Violence; Wife Abuse; Child Abuse; Anger; Trust;","Batterers Intervention Programs","Trust Issues","Maturity","Motivation","Sense of Belonging","Anger Management","Stigmatization"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/82"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to examine reasons why batterers drop out of batterers’ intervention programs. A qualitative design was utilized within the framework of Gove’s Prime Physical Theory, Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory and Braithwaite’s Reintegrative Shaming Theory. Data collection included interviewing a sample of 22 court mandated male batterers, who had initially dropped out of treatment and had been reinstated. Participants were from a diverse background. Results indicated five key themes that emerged from the batterers’ responses: (1) An overall lack of trust toward the legal system which greatly contributed to anger upon entering group; (2) a lack of insight/maturity in understanding the ramifications of non-compliance; (3) poor motivation/interest in attending and continuing in group; (4) difficulties reinstating back into the program once deciding to continue treatment; and (5) a sense of not belonging to the group. These findings have important clinical and policy implications. Clinically, the results suggest that decrease dropout is more likely if group facilitators directly address and assist batterers in resolving their anger in the first few sessions. Facilitators also need
to help participants develop insight into how their behavior and choices affect treatment
completion, clearly state the benefits in completing treatment, openly reward batterers for coming to group, and facilitate group cohesion among the members. Suggested policy recommendations include increased education within the judicial and law enforcement systems on how to minimize bias and deescalate anger during the arrest and legal process. This may include factors such as not treating arrestees with bias and structural changes such as calling treatment “Conflict Resolution” as opposed to “Batterers Treatment.” Other policy implications included the need to orient/educate batterers regarding legal requirements and consequences for non-compliance, and reducing barriers to the reinstatement process. Finally, as the legal system plays a major role in the stigmatization and escalation of anger of batterers, future studies should further explore needed organizational changes and the role of shaming in reducing treatment dropout. An examination of treatment dropouts who did not reinstate along with an exploration of cultural differences is also needed.
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"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Batterers' Perception of Treatment Non-Completion"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Freeman, Kimberly","Buckles, Beverly","Morris, Teresa"],"dc:creator":["Gordon, Zoila"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to examine reasons why batterers drop out of batterers’ intervention programs. A qualitative design was utilized within the framework of Gove’s Prime Physical Theory, Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory and Braithwaite’s Reintegrative Shaming Theory. Data collection included interviewing a sample of 22 court mandated male batterers, who had initially dropped out of treatment and had been reinstated. Participants were from a diverse background. Results indicated five key themes that emerged from the batterers’ responses: (1) An overall lack of trust toward the legal system which greatly contributed to anger upon entering group; (2) a lack of insight/maturity in understanding the ramifications of non-compliance; (3) poor motivation/interest in attending and continuing in group; (4) difficulties reinstating back into the program once deciding to continue treatment; and (5) a sense of not belonging to the group. These findings have important clinical and policy implications. Clinically, the results suggest that decrease dropout is more likely if group facilitators directly address and assist batterers in resolving their anger in the first few sessions. Facilitators also need
to help participants develop insight into how their behavior and choices affect treatment
completion, clearly state the benefits in completing treatment, openly reward batterers for coming to group, and facilitate group cohesion among the members. Suggested policy recommendations include increased education within the judicial and law enforcement systems on how to minimize bias and deescalate anger during the arrest and legal process. This may include factors such as not treating arrestees with bias and structural changes such as calling treatment “Conflict Resolution” as opposed to “Batterers Treatment.” Other policy implications included the need to orient/educate batterers regarding legal requirements and consequences for non-compliance, and reducing barriers to the reinstatement process. Finally, as the legal system plays a major role in the stigmatization and escalation of anger of batterers, future studies should further explore needed organizational changes and the role of shaming in reducing treatment dropout. An examination of treatment dropouts who did not reinstate along with an exploration of cultural differences is also needed.
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"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/82"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"dc:subject":["Social Policy","Family Violence; Wife Abuse; Child Abuse; Anger; Trust;","Batterers Intervention Programs","Trust Issues","Maturity","Motivation","Sense of Belonging","Anger Management","Stigmatization"],"dc:title":["Batterers' Perception of Treatment Non-Completion"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Social Work"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:08Z"}