‘I'm Working Towards Getting Back Together’: Client Accounts of Motivation Related to Relationship Status in Men's Behaviour Change Programmes in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Research in Australia has examined factors associated with filicide in order to more accurately instigate points of intervention. Factors include parental separation/divorce, depression in the perpetrator and domestic violence. Therefore, services that facilitate men's behaviour change programmes provide one such point of intervention. Relationships Australia NSW offers 'Taking Responsibility': an 18-week programme that addresses men's use of violence and abuse in their intimate relationships, through group work and individual support. Fundamental to this programme is the whole family's safety, which is managed through initial screening, ongoing contact and access to additional therapeutic services. Programme evaluation has revealed that men's change factors are influenced by varying levels of motivation, at intake and throughout. These accounts have indicated that the relationship status with their partner affects their motivation, which in turn has the potential to affect their investment in the programme. This relates to both increased and diminished motivation. Partners and former partners, however, expressed ambivalence towards their continuing relationships. Given the risk factors for filicide associated with domestic violence and separation, these interviews contribute to what is known about men's motivation to change violent and abusive behaviours, and in turn the clinical objectives for professionals working on these programmes. Copyright KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGES:• The client's relationship status often changes throughout the course of a men's behaviour change programme.• A separation can negatively affect motivation and behaviour change processes. • Professionals working with men who use violence are advised to raise the topic the client's relationship status, to prevent attrition, and work with them to broaden their motivations.

Male IPV Perpetrator’s Perspectives on Intervention and Change: A Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

“…Other primary study authors also offer examples of this type of motivation (Gondolf & Hanneken, 1987;Gray, Broady, et al, 2014;Silvergleid & Mankowski, 2006;Takano, 2014); which appears to be a deep rooted and linked to the interviewees' selfconcept; we might refer to it as "existential motivation." Another type of motivation, which was evident in several studies, was the motivation to make changes in behavior in order to regain one's family.…”

Taking Responsibility: Psychological and Attitudinal Change through a Domestic Violence Intervention Program in New South Wales, Australia

“…The complexity of relationships and attitudes in many recorded narratives, including other components of this study (Broady, Gray, Gaffney, & Lewis, in press;Gray et al, 2016;Gray et al, 2015) and other national studies (e.g., Brown & Flynn, 2016), indicate that significant personal change is a long-term process that only begins to emerge by the point of completing an intervention program. It may therefore be the case that the Gender Equity Scale was not sensitive enough to identify any minor changes in participants' implicit gender attitudes at this point, but that long-term positive change is possible as course participants continue their journey beyond their course attendance.…”

All You Need is Love (Plus a Good Evidence Base, a Healthy Dose of Scepticism, and Patience and Perseverance in Working with Families!)

“…In this part of the evaluation, they focused on the participants' perceptions of their relationships with their children. This builds on a previous paper which explored the men's perspectives on their relationships with their partners (Gray et al , ). Perhaps the most striking finding of this research was the universal expression, by these fathers, of love for their children, and how that was ‘motivating them to stop using violence and to develop positive relationships with all family members’ (Broady et al , , p. 335).…”