Wife Assault Treatment and Criminal Recidivism: An 11-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

The impact of court-ordered treatment for wife assault was assessed by monitoring 156 men who had completed such treatment for up to 11 years (mean = 5.2 years) after treatment completion. Recidivist assault and wife assault was assessed through access to Canadian Police Information Centre data that record crimes committed anywhere in Canada. Comparisons were drawn between this group and a group of 167 dropouts from treatment (noncompleters), 32 men rejected for treatment because of resistance or denial (rejects), and 91 men who never appeared for their treatment assessment (no shows). Whereas time-to-failure failed to reveal significant between-group differences, a recidivism ratio (total repeat offenses per man-in-group) revealed significantly lower recidivism rates for treatment completers (.23 versus .50). No shows recidivated at an equal rate to completers. Some inferences are drawn about spiral models of behavioral change.