Batterer intervention programs in Spain: The professionals perspective

• Main Authors: Victoria A. Ferrer-Perez, Virginia Ferreiro-Basurto, Capilla Navarro-Guzmán, Esperanza Bosch-Fiol
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2016-12-01
• Series: Psychosocial Intervention
• Online Access: http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/publicaciones/social/in2016v25n3a4.pdf

The Organic Law 1/2004 of 28 December on Integrated Protection Measures against Gender Violence has had, among other consequences, the generalization of intervention programs for batterers in cases of gender violence. The objective of this research is to explore the point of view of specialized professionals about these programs. For this purpose a qualitative methodology was used, by applying semi-structured interviews to 65 key informants, i.e. professionals with experience in implementing and/or managing and evaluating such programs. In general, these professionals were satisfied with the programs in which they had participated and they valued them positively. They considered that certain characteristics of participants and of the programs themselves contribute to promoting or hindering their success and also that they could obtain better results by customizing interventions. These results provide valuable information for understanding the difficulties encountered in implementing these programs and to improve them.