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Although shelters for abused women are common across North America, few have been evaluated. This qualitative study consisted of in-depth interviews with 63 shelter residents. Thirty-five of these women were interviewed in follow-ups 4 to 6 months later. In each interview, they were asked what they found helpful during their shelter stay. Residents were positive about the supportive nature of the staff, safety, relationships with other residents, and the child care. Residents expressed some concerns about the availability of counseling from busy staff and the appropriateness of some shelter residents. Generally, the women endorse shelters as resources that save lives.

Although support groups for battered women are a widely used intervention, little research has been conducted on their efficacy. This article presents a rationale for support groups as the intervention of choice for assaulted women and describes the available research. This secondary analysts of outcome data from a previously published study of 76 women in 12 different support groups investigates the effects of various group process vanables and client characteristics. The group variables selected for discussion include group size and attendance, whether participants completed the group as opposed to dropping out, and the number of group leaders (1 or 2). Client characteristics include whether the client still resides with her assaultive partner, recontracted versus first-time clients, and age. The results are discussed in light of their implications for developing and planning effective support groups for assaulted women.The assault of women by their intimate partners has been an issue of increasing concern for several years, with considerable attention being focused on the development of services to prevent violence, to provide women with refuge when they have been victimized, and to help them recover from the harm that victimization inflicts. With respect to the last goal, the most commonly recommended intervention for abused women is support groups

Objective: Fifteen treatment groups for men who abused intimate partners were evaluated. Method: 104 men took part, with a completion rate of 68.3%. Scores on social desirability were utilized to adjust totals on other self-report scales. Results: Group completers (n = 71) were no different from dropouts (n = 33) on the adjusted standardized measures or demographics. Group completion was associated with significant improvements on the adjusted variables of appraisal social support, self-esteem, perceived stress, attitudes toward marriage and the family, locus of control, and the marital relationship functions of roles, affective expression, and communication. Importantly, adjusted scores on both the Physical and Non-Physical Abuse subscales of the Index of Spouse Abuse were significantly reduced, the latter to below the clinical cutoff. No differences were found between court-mandated and non-court-mandated group completers. Conclusions: The utility of using social desirability to adjust scores is highlighted. The implications for group treatment are discussed.

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Few evaluations have assessed the outcomes of group therapy for women abused by intimate partners. Most group programs emphasize support rather than offering therapy, although women abused by partners often present with significant clinical mental health issues. This paper describes, BYou're Not Alone,^a 14-week therapy group model for women abused by intimate partners informed by a narrative approach Jenkins (The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 12 (4), 186-195 1991). The results present the demographic characteristics of the 379 women who began group, and a comparison of those who completed treatment (N=214) versus those who dropped out (N=165). Women with less income and a psychiatric history were less likely to complete group, as were women with higher depression, clinical stress, and mental health symptoms. The pretest/posttest outcome evaluation for the completers used measures of mental health symptoms, self-esteem, depression, and clinical stress, finding statistically significant improvements on most measures with moderate effect sizes. Practice implications and suggestions are presented.

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