Predicting dropout of court-mandated treatment in a British sample of domestic violence offenders

Abstract

Prior to starting a pro-feminist domestic violence rehabilitation programme, 120 British male domestic violence offenders completed psychometric and attitudinal measures that assessed pro-domestic violence attitudes, anger, locus of control, self-reported emotional and psychological abuse of a partner, interpersonal dependency and social desirability. Offenders who completed the programme were compared to those who dropped out on these measures and demographic variables. Just under one-third (32.5%) of offenders failed to complete the programme. Of those variables that discriminated between completers and dropouts (age, previous custodial sentences, age at first conviction, marital status, self-reported abuse, and diagnosis of depression), only age (being young), having previously received a custodial sentence and self-reported low levels of physical abuse of a partner predicted attrition. These results are discussed with reference to probation supervision.