Implementation and Effectiveness of In-Prison Programs for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: Evidence From Spain

Abstract

The article describes the supply and demand of programs for imprisoned perpetrators of intimate partner violence and their consequences on recidivism in a Spanish penal system with multiple interventions. Four aspects are studied with descriptive, multinomial, survival, and canonical correlation analyses—programs’ features (number, content, duration, combinations, compliance); users and nonusers’ characteristics (socioeconomic profiles, criminological histories, incarceration experiences); the ensuing outcomes (prison behavior and postrelease recidivism); and the profiles of the clients benefiting the most and least from them. The results show great heterogeneity in program supply and in how they are taken, and marked differences in the profiles of nonusers and users of programs of different durations. This helps interpret the main finding that short-program users have lower rates of recidivism, partly due to the programs’ more appropriate formats and partly due to the users’ less problematic characteristics and higher opportunities to take them. Policy recommendations are accordingly made.