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CULTURALLY‐FOCUSED BATTERER COUNSELING FOR AFRICAN‐AMERICAN MEN *
Author(s) -
GONDOLF EDWARD W.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
criminology and public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.6
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1745-9133
pISSN - 1538-6473
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2007.00441.x
Subject(s) - domestic violence , culturally sensitive , agency (philosophy) , african american , psychology , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , medicine , poison control , social psychology , medical emergency , sociology , social science , ethnology
Research Summary: Clinicians and researchers have strongly recommended culturally‐focused counseling with African‐American men arrested for domestic violence. An experimental clinical trial tested the effectiveness of this approach against conventional cognitive‐behavioral counseling in all‐African‐American groups and in racially‐mixed groups (N = 501). No significant difference was found in the reassault rate reported by the men's female partners over a 12‐month follow‐up period (23% overall). During that period, men in the racially‐mixed groups were, moreover, half as likely to be rearrested for domestic violence as the men in the culturally‐focused groups. The men's level of racial identification did not significantly affect the outcomes of the counseling options. Policy Implications: Simply adding a culturally‐focused counseling group to domestic violence programs does not seem in itself to improve outcomes. In the current study, the culturally‐focused counseling was an appendage to an existing agency closely linked to the criminal justice system. Culturally‐focused counseling may prove to be more effective within community‐based organizations tied to local services and supports.