This research project examined hostile beliefs towards women held by men who completed a Duluth Model partner violence intervention program. Changes in beliefs are foundational to change in the cessation of violence within the Duluth model. Hostile beliefs towards women establish a context for objectification and suspicion of women, and justification for violence. Although there was not a significant reduction in hostility scores, there was a significant reduction in aggression scores. Hostility scores were significantly correlated with the aggression scores indicating encouraging results that partner abuse intervention programs may influence the reduction of hostile beliefs towards women and thus may impact perpetration of violence.
In the past thirty years domestic violence has emerged as a significant social issue for research and theory development. A variety of treatment programs for male perpetrators have developed over the past several years [
Outcome measurements thus far have been mixed. Several published reviews of outcome measurements from single site evaluations have reported success rates between 60% and 80% [
Methodological challenges contribute to difficulty in measuring success for intimate partner violence intervention programs. Most studies operationalize successful intervention as the cessation of violence. Although the cessation of violence is a laudable longitudinal benchmark of success, tracking of this outcome becomes a conundrum fraught with methodological and safety concerns. Tracking outcome success by arrest records seems to be inaccurate that the majority of domestic violence never comes to the attention of the law enforcement system. The veracity of data collected regarding cessation of violence from the perpetrator seems to be dubious for obvious reasons. The victim, who could have the best report on the status of power and control tactics and violence, may have her safety in jeopardy if she provides follow-up information on her former batterer. Additionally the low response rate and high mobility of this population increase the concern for mortality threat to validity.
Measurement of intermediate outcomes, therefore, may be a good, partial alternative to the measurement of long-term outcomes of violence cessation. The pre and post measurement of various characteristics in batterers that are thought to contribute to violence may be seen as intermediate outcome data that hopefully translates into long-term outcomes of violence cessation. Hostility is one obvious variable that has been examined with domestically violent men [
Although the emotions of anger and hostility are often used interchangeably in empirical studies regarding domestic violence, they are related but separate experiences [
Hostility is often defined as an attitudinal or cognitive construct that involves dislike and negative evaluations of another [
A hostile world view is thought to develop in childhood through developmental ruptures [
There have been several studies conducted that examined the relationship of hostility to domestic violence. Maiuro, Cahn, Vitaliano, Wagner and Zegree [
A similar study was completed one year later by Maiuro, O’Sullivan, Michael and Vitaliano [
Barnett, Fagan and Booker [
Hershorn and Rosenbaum [
Boyle and Vivian [
Maiuro, Cahn and Vitaliano [
Kachadourian, Homish, Quigley and Leonard [
While several researchers have documented dispositional hostility with men who perpetrate intimate partner violence, these men also have an increased hostile attributional bias [
Hostility towards women is considered one of the five proximal variables used by Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart [
The most common perpetrator intervention program, The Duluth Model, considers the elimination of hostile beliefs towards women as the fundamental change effort to end violence [
The literature is replete with research that examines the role of hostility in domestic violence. As hostility is defined as an attitudinal construct it seems to be an attitude based on beliefs. If one holds misogynist and patriarchal beliefs, it seems reasonable that one would experience hostility to women when these beliefs meet resistance or challenge. Changes in measures of hostility may be a representative proxy for changes in misogynist or patriarchal beliefs structures within an intimate relationship. If a male batterer no longer believes he has the right to power and control over a female partner, there would be less likelihood for hostility and anger to manifest as a mechanism for power and control. This study seeks to identify changes in hostility in men participating in a batterer intervention program. Changes in hostility may be a valid intermediate measure of success towards the ultimate goal of violence cessation.
This study is guided by four hypotheses as follows:
Ho 1: There will be a significant decrease in hostile beliefs about women for men who complete a Partner Abuse Intervention Program.
Ho.2: There will be a significant reduction in aggression scores for men who complete the Partner Abuse Intervention Program.
Ho.3: There will be a correlation between hostile beliefs about women and aggression after completion of a Partner Abuse Intervention Program with lower hostility scores being correlated with lower aggression scores.
Ho4: Hostile beliefs about women scores will significantly predict aggression scores.
The sample in this study consisted of 92 men who were referred to and completed a batterer intervention program in a mid-west, urban community over a two year period. There were 187 men who began the program, but slightly less than half persisted. All of the participants were mandated to attend the 26-week program as a condition of their sentencing. The majority of men were white with less than a fifth identified as African American and a small percentage of men identified as Latino (
Hostility was measured with the Hostility Towards Women Scale [
Race of participants | ||
---|---|---|
Race | Percentage at beginning | Percentage at completion |
White | 74.8% | 72.2% |
African American | 20.9% | 20.2% |
Latino | 4.3% | 5.6% |
Marital status | ||
---|---|---|
Status | Percentage at beginning | Percentage at completion |
Married | 25.2% | 26.4% |
Cohabitating | 29.7% | 30.2% |
Divorced | 17.1% | 15.1% |
Separated | 9.9% | 11.3% |
Single | 18.0% | 17.0% |
measure trait hostility that men have towards women. It is comprised of 30 statements that are endorsed as true or false. Higher scores indicate higher hostility. The instrument is reported as having reliability of 0.87 [
Aggression was measured with the Aggression Questionnaire [
Participants in the study were all mandated to complete a protocol-approved partner abuse intervention program. Most of the participants were required to attend as a condition of probation from a domestic violence charge. Some men were referred by a child welfare judge as part of the treatment plan for an indicated case of child abuse or neglect. In these situations, domestic violence was one of the identified issues that the parents were required to address for resolution of the child welfare intervention. The program was a 26-week group course that met for two hours each week. The curriculum was based on the Duluth Model and groups were closed. Once the groups convened, no new participants were added. All groups were gender-specific and all participants in this study were male.
Each participant was screened for participation in an intake interview. The interview gathered basic assessment information, explained the rules of the program, explained the requirement of victim notification if there were threats, explained the probation reporting process, acquired signed releases of information for probation and the perpetrator’s victim, acquired consent for participation, and generally oriented the men to the program. After a potential participant completed the intake interview, he was enrolled in the next available group.
As the groups were a closed format, all participants started the group at the same meeting. Group members completed the pre-test instruments on the first day of group. The pre-test instruments were used by the program for quality assurance and to provide accountability on outcome measurements for funding sources and accrediting bodies. The pre-test measures were gathered prior to any content from the curriculum was delivered and were a base-line assessment of participants prior to intervention. The same measures were used as post-tests at the end of the program at the last group meeting. All instruments were scored and entered into SPSS for analysis. A paired-samples t test was conducted to examine for change in hostility and aggression from time one to time two. The alpha level was set at the conventional 0.05 level. Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the variables of hostility and aggression and hostility and age. Linear regression was conducted to discern how hostility contributed to aggression. One-way analysis of variance was conducted to examine the difference in hostility score with race and marital status.
The first hypothesis was not supported by the data. Despite a reduction in scores measuring hostility to women from the pre-test period (M = 11.46) to the post-test period (M = 10.15), the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.203) (
Demographic variables such as age, race, and marital status did not seem to influence hostility towards women or aggression scores. There was no significant difference in hostility towards women post-test scores by race [F (53) = 0.546, p = 0.582] or marital status [F (52) = 1.27, p= 0.292]. There was no significant correlation with age (p = 0.308). There was also no significant difference in the total aggression post-test scores by race [F (53) = 0.989, p = 0.383] or marital status [F (52) = 1.50, p = 0.227]. There was no significant correlation aggression post-test scores and age (p = 0.697).
The third hypothesis was supported by the data. Measurement of hostility was significantly and moderately correlated with the overall measurement of aggression at the end of intervention with the partner abuse program. When the subscales were teased out, hostility was significantly correlated with each subscale with the exception of verbal aggression. It seems logical that the subscale of hostility on the AQ would correlate significantly with the HTW scale, but the moderate level of correlation would indicate that the two scales are measuring hostility slightly differently (
The fourth hypothesis was also supported by the data. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that there is a significant relationship between hostility and aggression with hostility comprising nearly 15% of the variance in aggression (
The results from this study indicate positive change in men who receive treatment from a partner abuse intervention program in a group modality. Although the change in the Hostility Towards Women scale was not
Pre-test | Post-test | t statistic | df | |
---|---|---|---|---|
HTW | 11.46 | 10.15 | 1.28 | 75 |
AQ | 70.64 | 64.02 | 2.85 | 44* |
*p = 0.007.
Tot. Aggression | Physical | Verbal | Anger | Hostility | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hostility | r (61) = 0.381 | r (61) = −0.249 | r (61) = 0.058 | r (61) = −0.371 | r (61) = −0.432 |
p = 0.002 | p = 0.05 | p = 0.65 | p = 0.003 | p = 0.001 |
Variable | B | SE B | β |
---|---|---|---|
Hostility | 0.970 | 0.307 | 3.81 |
p = 0.002.
statistically significant, the change did indicate a reduction in hostility from the start of the program to the end. The significant reduction in the aggression scores from pre-test to post-test may be a strong indication that partner abuse intervention programs decrease a participant’s likelihood for aggression. Although there was not a significant reduction in hostility scores on the Hostility Towards Women scale, the fact that it correlates significantly with the Aggression Questionnaire, and indeed accounts for approximately 15% of the variance of aggression, may indicate that a decrease in hostility parallels the statistically significant reduction in aggression.
The significant correlational data between the scores on the Hostility Towards Women Scale and the physical aggression subscale from the Aggression Questionnaire may be a positive indication that as perpetrators are less hostile, they are less likely to engage in physical aggression. The significant correlational relationship between the scores on the Hostility Towards Women Scale and the anger subscale of the Aggression Questionnaire also may indicate that less hostility indicates less anger, which may preclude a situation advancing to the use of aggression.
The results from this study, though positive, must be evaluated with caution due to some limitations. Although the demographic characteristics were not considerably different for the program completers versus those who began and did not persist, there may have been other characteristics not measured that would have indicated the completing group as different from those who did not persist. Additionally, the results of this study must be considered as exploratory, not explanatory because there was no way to control for variables that may have influenced hostility towards women and aggression.
Although the construct of hostility is part of the total Aggression Questionnaire, it seems that the items on both instruments are tapping into different contexts of hostility. The Hostility Towards Women Scale [
Reduction in hostility towards women may be an important precursor to the cessation of violence. As men alter their beliefs about women and their right to power and control over partners, there may be less potential for conflict to escalate to violence in order to maintain a superior status.
Changing beliefs is foundational to the cessation of violence within the Duluth model of intervention for perpetrators of intimate partner violence [
Hostile beliefs towards women are central beliefs that support patriarchy and power and control. Beliefs about women that are denigrating foster an environment that can easily lead to objectification, suspicion, and justification for violence. Holding hostile beliefs about another seems to inherently preclude the possibility of an egalitarian relationship.
Several techniques, practices, and assumptions with the Duluth Curriculum are aimed at challenging hostile beliefs towards and about women. Indeed the first of five objectives for the curriculum is “to assist the participant to understand that his acts of violence are a means of controlling his partner’s actions, thoughts, and feelings by examining the intent of his acts of abuse and the belief system from which he operates” [
A central method to provoke men to examine their beliefs about women is the use of control logs [
A second process used in the Duluth Curriculum is the use of videos of actors portraying interactions to highlight each of the themes. The videos are processed in the group allowing the participants to identify the mechanisms of power and control and to identify the beliefs that supported the action of power and control.
Although this was not an explanatory research project, the results are encouraging regarding effectiveness outcomes for perpetrator intervention programs. As the foundation for change through intervention based on the Duluth Curriculum is changed beliefs, it would seem that any reduction in hostile beliefs towards women would support behavioral change that is non-violent. Although there was not a significant reduction in hostile beliefs towards women, there was a significant reduction in the measurement of aggression. As the hostile beliefs were significantly correlated to aggression, there is some encouraging support that men who complete the program with a decrease in aggression may have also changed their hostile beliefs.
The results from this study indicate that it is important to emphasize change in all forms of power and control dynamics, not just the most severe form of physical violence. Although complete cessation of physical violence is the primary outcome sought for batterer intervention programs, reduction in all aspects of power and control is the only way to achieve relationships based on a model of equality. Changed behavior that manifest in the reduction of hostility is progression in the direction of equality.
DianeZosky, (2016) Changing Hostile Beliefs towards Women through Partner Abuse Intervention Programs. Open Journal of Social Sciences,04,99-107. doi: 10.4236/jss.2016.42014