Success Rates of Batterer Treatment Programs

Information from Dr. Jeffrey Edleson, University of Minnesota, from a summary by Jessica Amo for the newsletter Break Through.

Batterer intervention programs have been extensively evaluated.  Results of these evaluations show that only one of five (20%) make it all the way through the program and are reported not violent during follow-up periods.  On the other hand, of those men who complete batterer intervention, about 53% to 83% are reported not violent at follow-up.  Another evaluation found that emotional abuse continued post-treatment despite the absence of physical abuse.  This has led some programs to include more emphasis on stopping emotionally abusive behavior in addition to physical battering.