Who Can Be A Batterer?
Controlling Behaviors
Character Traits of Batterers
Why Do Batterers Act This Way?
Can Batterers Be Helped?

It is very difficult to change battering behavior. Battering is often supported by many deeply-held and complex beliefs and attitudes about men, women, and relationships. Batterers usually have little or no capacity for empathy or self-reflection. They often are intensely self-centered, and have a life-long habit of blaming others for their own actions. In order to change the battering behavior, the batterer first needs to take responsibility for it, and refusing to take responsibility is a key trait of batterers. Only about five percent (or one in twenty) batterers who unwillingly undergo court-mandated treatment actually change their behavior for the better.

Batterers who voluntarily sign up for intervention programs have a higher success rate, but these individuals tend to be the least severe on the battering scale. By signing up for the program, they are already owning some responsibility, agreeing that they need to change, and taking proactive steps to do so, so their prognosis is much more positive. But only a tiny minority of batterers will join intervention programs on their own. There are almost no intervention programs for female batterers (heterosexual or gay) or for gay male batterers.

Batterers' intervention programs are specifically designed to address domestic violence. They are not interchangeable with "anger management" programs or with marriage/couples counseling, neither of which are recommended in cases of domestic violence. In Massachusetts, batterers' programs are certified by the Department of Public Health, which monitors them and maintains a statewide statistical data collection system. Group facilitators undergo specialized training in domestic violence issues. Programs are affiliated with domestic violence agencies. Participants attend at least 40 sessions of the program (compared to an average of 10 sessions for anger management classes).

Batterers' intervention programs see physical violence as only one of many destructive behaviors batterers use to control their victims. Batterers are shown how their abuse affects their partners and children, and are held fully accountable for choosing their violent and abusive behavior. They are helped to find and practice alternatives to abuse for negotiating their intimate relationships and managing conflicts.

For more information, and referrals to a local batterer's intervention program, contact your local domestic violence agency. Some programs are listed on the Resources page.