Professional Testimonials

Mr W’s personality profile has changed as he has matured and received treatment and he no longer exhibits the aggressive and impulsive tendencies which characterised his previous presentation.

....while he has a past history of aggression, impulsivity and alcohol abuse, these problems appear to have been resolved. 

He has also shown improvements in his perspective taking ability and empathic concern for others. He has also softened and become less rigid in his attitudes towards childcare and situations in which children transgress rules and boundaries. 

In particular, he no longer appears to accept the use of physical punishment as a way of dealing with a child’s misbehaviour. With regard to his general parenting abilities, Mr W has the capacity to emotionally attach to children and such attachments, as well as the ability to empathise, are both inhibitors of aggression. 

He enjoys a stable marriage, good relations with the people with whom he lives (his parents in law), and has good recreational and social networks which help inoculate against stress.

Therapeutic approaches based on Duluth domestic violence education programmes for men are often recommended for male perpetrators of domestic violence. The Duluth model is an educational approach that is programme centred, challenging, confrontational and rigid. These programmes are based on an educational approach in which the perpetrator will often suppress their abusive behaviours during treatment (Jewel and Wormith 2010). 

Meta-analytic studies of Duluth type educational approaches have consistently found that domestic violence education programmes for men that are based on Duluth pro-feminist model result in no long-term reduction in intimate partner violence (Slabber 2012). 

Approaches that appear to have more positive outcomes to the Duluth model identify individual criminal criminogenic risk factors, target dynamic need and risk factors, target multiple needs, promote behavioural change and develop social and communication skills.

More therapeutic approaches are client centred, empathic, engage the client, are responsive to a client’s needs, and result in a reduction of IPV. The research literature clearly indicates that an effective approach for male perpetrators of IPV is to provide therapeutic treatment that focuses on the perpetrator’s own traumatic history and other individual difficulties (Vlais, 2014).

It has been found that courses involving more than 36 hours of education and therapy do not have any better outcomes than courses involving less than 36 hours of intervention work (Paulin, 2014).

The group based course offered by Temper does address IPV issues and a number of local authorities refer clients to the organisation. A client was concerned that Cafcass had informed him that the course run by Temper is not a recognised course for domestic violence perpetrators. 

I would assume that this reflects that the course run by Temper is not accredited by RESPECT — a self appointed organisation in the UK that accredits domestic violence perpetrator programmes that are primarily based upon The Duluth model.