Searching for the mechanisms of change: a protocol for a realist review of batterer treatment programmes

Abstract

IntroductionConflicting results reported by evaluations of typical batterer intervention programmes leave many judicial officials and policymakers uncertain about the best way to respond to domestic violence, and whether to recommend and fund these programmes. Traditional evaluations and systematic reviews tend to focus predominantly on whether the programmes ‘worked’ (eg, reduced recidivism) often at the exclusion of understanding for whom they may or may not have worked, under what circumstances, and why.Methods and analysisWe are undertaking a realist review of the batterer treatment programme literature with the aim of addressing this gap. Keeping with the goals of realist review, our primary aims are to identify the theory that underlies these programmes, highlight the mechanisms that trigger changes in participant behaviour and finally explain why these programmes help some individuals reduce their use of violence and under what conditions they are effective or not effective. We begin by describing the process of perpetrator treatment, and by proposing an initial theoretical model of behaviour change that will be tested by our review. We then describe the criteria for inclusion of an evaluation into the review, the search strategy we will use to identify the studies, and the plan for data extraction and analysis.Ethics and disseminationThe results of this review will be written up using the RAMESES Guidelines for Realist Synthesis, and disseminated through peer-reviewed publications aimed at the practitioner community as well as presented at community forums, and at violence against women conferences. Ethics approval was not needed.

Motivational Strategies in Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence Offenders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Police reports as an index of IPV recidivism could be also problematic and may not appropriately reflect reality. Many acts of IPV do not result in law enforcement intervention and, therefore, are likely to greatly underestimate IPV actual frequency (Velonis et al, 2016). As Babcock et al (2004) pointed out, official reports could be inaccurate and some crimes may not appear on criminal records (e.g., crimes committed outside of the state or local jurisdiction, violence incidents in which adjudication was deferred), and there is a certain disparity in which types of crimes research considered as recidivism.…”

Differences between Latin American and Spanish men in a batterer intervention programme: proximal and final outcomes

“…In relation to stage of change, both groups progressed in stages while the intervention was underway, with no significant differences between them. It is worth mentioning that previous research has associated progress made in the variables related to intention to change with a greater responsibility attribution towards their violent behaviour which, thus, influences the expected final outcome of such interventions; reduction of recidivism (Scott, King, McGinn & Hosseini, 2011;Velonis, Cheff, Finn, Davloor & O'Campo, 2016).…”

Cash transfer programmes in lower-income and middle-income countries: understanding pathways to nutritional change—a realist review protocol

“…These will be separated among the review team, consisting of two reviewers (HF and GM), and titles and abstracts will be reviewed by individual reviewers to see if they: (1) focused on CTPs (regardless of modality) and (2) appear to fit with the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Reviewers will list the articles as ‘include’, ‘exclude’ and ‘maybe’ 50. In the absence of an abstract, titles of articles will be used to determine if they are appropriate for review (eg, mention of CTPs and nutrition outcomes).…”

“…If the title is ambiguous, the article will remain in the ‘maybe’ group for the next stage of the review. As described by Velonis,50 we will ensure inner-rater reliability, through a randomly selected number of article titles and abstracts, each being reviewed independently to determine if the study should be included. In the case of discrepancies, agreements will be reached collectively.…”

“…Data will be managed using Microsoft Excel, an annotated notebook will be kept ensuring an audit trail of decision-making is maintained. The findings of the data extraction will provide an overall impression of the depth of the data available and how much it will contribute to our programme theories 50…”