Mandatory Court Review and Batterer Program Compliance

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Abstract
A naturalistic pre-experiment/postexperiment was conducted to examine the impact of periodic court review on compliance to 12 weeks of court-referred batterer counseling. To determine compliance, court dockets and clinical records were reviewed for the year prior to implementation, immediately after implementation, and 2 years after implementation. Background questionnaires were administered to test for any changes in case characteristics (n = 321), and court procedures were observed to identify external influences on compliance. Compliance to program intake increased from 64% of those who were referred by the court in 1994 to 94% in 1997. Program completion by those who appeared for program intake remained approximately 70%. The percentage of court referrals that completed the program rose from 48% in 1994 to 65% in 1997. The findings suggest the utility of court review with pretrial referrals in improving compliance and the importance of considering court procedures in assessing program outcomes.

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