Improving empathy with motivational strategies in batterer intervention programmes: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objectives Empathy (i.e., the ability to decode emotions, as well as cognitive and emotional empathy) is involved in moral reasoning, prosocial behaviour, social and emotional adequacy, mood and behaviour regulation. Hence, alterations in these functions could reduce behaviour control and the adoption of specific types of violence such as intimate partner violence (IPV). Although interventions for IPV perpetrators focus on reducing IPV risk factors and increasing protective factors to prevent this kind of violence, the study of the effectiveness of these programmes in promoting changes in empathy (cognitive and emotional) has been neglected. Design Hence, the main aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two different modalities of IPV intervention programmes (Standard Batterer Intervention Programs [SBIP] vs. SBIP + Individualized Motivational Plan [IMP]) in promoting empathic improvements after both interventions. Method Participants were randomly assigned to receive SBIP (n = 40) or SBIP + IMP (n = 53). The effectiveness of the intervention in the total sample and the group effects were evaluated with general linear model repeated‐measures ANOVA. Results Results revealed that only the IPV perpetrators who received the SBIP + IMP were more accurate in decoding emotional facial signals and presented better cognitive empathy (perspective taking) after the intervention programme. Conclusions Our study reinforces the view that different modalities of IPV intervention might lead to different cognitive outcomes after the intervention. Thus, these results may help professionals to develop specific intervention programmes focused on improving cognitive abilities in order to reduce IPV recidivism. Practitioner points Interventions for batterers’ neglected empathic changes after these programmes. Not enough randomized controlled trials for these kinds of interventions. An improvement in the ability to decode emotions after the intervention programme. An improvement in cognitive empathy (perspective taking) after the intervention programme. Different modalities of IPV intervention might lead to different cognitive outcomes after the intervention.

Identifying Key Predictors of Recidivism among Offenders Attending a Batterer Intervention Program: A Survival Analysis

“…Asimismo, se discuten las implicaciones prácticas para futuras investigaciones. related to recidivism include legal variables such as any prior arrest, previous criminal history, IPVAW arrest or jail sentence (Collins, Bouffard, & Wilkes, 2019;Davis, Smith, & Nickles, 1998;Fitzgerald & Graham, 2016;Kingsnorth, 2006), high risk of recidivism assessed by therapists (Goodman, Dutton, & Bennett, 2000), and treatment dropout (Gondolf, 2000;Lauch et al, 2017;Romero-Martínez et al, 2019;Stoops, Bennett, & Vincent, 2010).…”

Supplementing standard batterer intervention programmes with individual motivational plans may increase empathic capacity in perpetrators of intimate partner violence

“…Finally, the attrition rate (n=27) may compromise the comparability of the two treatment groups. These limitations notwithstanding, the current study3 lends support to the argument that the addition of motivational intervention strategies might lead to enhanced empathic abilities among IPV perpetrators in SBIPs.…”

“…The purpose of the study3 was to evaluate the differences between SBIP and SBIP+IMP in IPV perpetrators’ cognitive, empathic outcomes after ending both interventions. A randomised controlled trial was used to determine the differences between the control (SBIP) and experimental (SBIP+IMP) groups on two measures: Reading the Mind in the Eyes (eye test to assess emotion-decoding ability) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (to assess cognitive empathy and emotional empathy).…”

“…There is a growing body of literature that supports motivational intervention treatments that increase an individual’s capacity for empathy as effective strategies in decreasing IPV among perpetrators 1 2. The study by Romero-Martinez and colleagues investigated the effect of two treatment strategies—SBIP alone and SBIP with motivational interventions—on three dimensions of empathy: the ability to decode emotions from facial expression, cognitive empathy (perspective taking) and emotional empathy (the ability to share another’s experience) 3…”

Alexithymia as a Predictor of Arousal and Affect Dysregulations when Batterers with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Cope with Acute Stress

“…We also think that these short programs would help to avoid saturating IPVAW perpetrators with therapy content, by being inserted in the middle of it. Nevertheless, it would be necessary to check their improvements with randomized control trials, as has been done until now [53]. This is the first study to point to heightened arousal of IPVAW perpetrators with ADHD symptoms in response to an acute laboratory stressor, but we recognize that the experiment has some limitations that should be considered in future studies.…”