The goals of this study were to explore the prevalence of childhood family violence (CFV) (both suffered and witnessed) among male batterers in treatment, and to analyze the specific psychological profile of those perpetrators with CFV. A sample of 1,421 men recruited from a specialized batterer treatment program was assessed. A description of the sociodemographic, violence, and psychopathological characteristics of the sample was carried out. Moreover, a comparison of all the variables studied between batterer men with and those without CFV was conducted. The results showed that 35.2% ( n = 500) of the sample reported having been victims of CFV (67.2% of them directly suffered abuse, and 32.8% witnessed violence between their parents, mainly from father to mother). Batterers with CFV presented with more irrational beliefs both about women and about violence as a strategy to cope with everyday difficulties. Moreover, they had significantly higher scores than batterers without CFV on all psychopathological symptoms as assessed by the SCL-90-R, as well as on most of the STAXI-2 subscales. In the logistic regression analysis, the main variables related to having a history of CFV were low education level, voluntary access to the program, having a previous psychiatric history, being an immigrant, having children, and presenting a greater number of psychopathological symptoms. According to these results, batterers with CFV showed a higher severity in most of the variables studied than those without CFV. Consequently, these findings highlight the importance of tailoring batterer treatment programs to their specific characteristics, particularly those regarding childhood victimization.

In this article, the impact of a court-mandated psychological treatment program for men who had committed an offense of intimate partner violence is tested. The sample consisted of 235 men who received a suspended sentence after being charged and sentenced for an offense in relation to intimate partner violence. The success rate in the posttreatment period was 37.4%, and the improvement rate was 48.1%. Therefore, in 85.5% of cases, the treatment program was effective. Results after 12 months of follow-up were almost identical. Moreover, there was a significant decrease in associated psychopathological symptoms. Regarding prediction of therapeutic results, batterers who were older, who had more distorted thoughts about violence, and who had not been victims of childhood abuse were at a significantly greater risk of treatment failure.

This paper describes the demographic, gender violence and psychopathological characteristics of 399 men in a specialized treatment programme for gender violence. Furthermore, a comparison of all the variables studied among the subjects referred by the court to the treatment programme (n= 276) and those who were imprisoned (n= 123) was conducted. The results showed the existence of numerous statistically significant differences between groups, primarily in psychopathological variables and in cognitive bias about women and violence use. In general, imprisoned batterers showed more irrational beliefs both about women and about violence as a strategy to cope with everyday difficulties. Moreover, batterers in prison had significantly higher scores on all psychopathological symptoms as assessed by SCL-90-R, as well as in most of STAXI-2 subscales. According to these results, batterers in prison showed a higher severity in variables studied than those who were referred by the court to the treatment programme. Implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are also commented on.

This study explored the differential prevalence of personality disorders (PD) and clinical syndromes between male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) with and without a history of childhood family violence (CFV). A sample of 981 perpetrators of IPV was assessed with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory‐III (MCMI‐III). Comparisons of sociodemographic characteristics and MCMI‐III scales' scores between perpetrators with (n = 293) and without (n = 688) CFV were carried out. Results showed that IPV perpetrators with CFV had a lower level of education, were less frequently employed, and had higher rates of previous psychiatric history than perpetrators without CFV. Statistically significant differences between groups in almost all the MCMI‐III scales were found. Perpetrators with CFV presented with higher scores on most of the evaluated scales and showed a more severe psychopathological profile than perpetrators without CFV. The multivariate analysis showed that the main MCMI‐III domains related to CFV were higher scores on the disclosure and alcohol dependence scales and lower scores on the passive‐aggressive scale. These findings reveal that CFV is associated with a more severe psychopathological profile in perpetrators of IPV. In order to develop tailored interventions, the presence of CFV and psychopathological symptoms should be assessed in IPV perpetrators.

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