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Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP)

Scientific Rating:
3
Promising Research Evidence
See scale of 1-5
Child Welfare Relevance Level:
Medium

See descriptions of 3 levels

Brief Description

The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) program has been rated by the CEBC in the area of: Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence: Batterer Intervention Programs.

  • Type of Maltreatment: Exposure to Domestic Violence
  • Target Population: Adult males who are both court-ordered (civil or criminal) and voluntary participants.

The DAIP was designed in 1981 as a Coordinated Community Response (CCR) and includes law enforcement, the criminal and civil courts, and human service providers working together to make communities safer for victims. The DAIP, located in Duluth, Minnesota, includes a 28-week education program for offenders. This model is commonly referred to as the "Duluth Model." The program uses the curriculum Creating a Process of Change for Men Who Batter, which was developed by the DAIP. Advocates at the DAIP contact the partners of men court-ordered to the program to offer advocacy, community resources, and education groups for women.

Essential Components

The DIAP has two distinct aspects: the Coordinated Community Response and the "Duluth Model" offender education program.

The Coordinated Community Response (CCR)

  • Focus interventions on stopping an offender's use of violence, not fixing the relationship.
  • Use the power of the state through arrest and prosecution to place controls on an offender's behavior.
  • Monitor an offender's compliance with conditions of probation, protections orders, and court-mandated counseling.
  • Provide victims of abuse emergency housing, protections orders, information, and advocacy to increase safety and autonomy.
  • Monitor the community response by tracking cases to ensure intervening agencies conform to agreed-upon policies.
  • Resolve problems by examining and documenting the manner in which practitioners are responding to cases that appear to be in conflict with policies and administrative procedures. In Duluth, this is the responsibility of the DAIP.
  • Work through problems in interagency meetings coordinated by the DAIP.
  • Work to shield children from violence by determining visitation conditions and by linking the safety of children to the safety of their mother.

"The Duluth Model" offender education program

  • Assist the participant to understand that his acts of violence are a means of controlling his partner's actions, thoughts, and feelings by examining the intent of his acts of abuse and how it is tied to the belief system from which he operates.
  • Educate the participants through the use of group dialogue.
  • Increase the participant's understanding of the causes of his violence by examining the cultural and social contexts in which he uses violence against his partner.
  • Increase the participant's willingness to change his abusive behavior by examining the negative effects of his behavior on his relationship, his partner, his children, and himself.
  • Increase the participant's ability to hold himself responsible for the hurt he has caused by creating a safe and accountable environment
  • Assist the participant to understand equality, respect, love, and partnership by examining the actions, intents, and beliefs necessary to realize these positive characteristics of relationships.

Child Component

Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) was not designed with a child component.

Parent / Caregiver Component

Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) was designed with a parent/caregiver component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

  • Fathers who have been arrested for abusing their partners.

Group Format

Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) was designed to be conducted in a group setting; but has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended group size:

10 to 20

Delivery Setting

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Community Agency

Homework

Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) includes a homework component:

Homework can vary depending on the program. It is rare to give written homework due to a number of factors. Homework is typically to act or reflect on the outcomes of a class. For example, the men might be asked to monitor their thinking when they walk in their home and report back on what they discovered. This assignment is usually given as a way to empathize with what it is like to live with them.

Languages

Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) does not have materials available in a language other than English.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

  • A room with chairs.
  • Relationship with the courts so there is access to police reports and accountability for men who re-offend and/or quit attending the men's program.
  • Relationship with a battered women's shelter for contact/advocacy for the victim.

Minimum Provider Qualifications

  • Interest in working with men who batter.
  • An ability to be an educator.
  • An openness to be self-reflective regarding ones own struggle with privilege.
  • Trained in the use of the program's curriculum.

There are no educational requirements for providers.

Education and Training Resources

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training is obtained:

Training is done either onsite or within individual communities.

Number of days/hours:

Trainings range from 2 to 3 days.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

This program is rated a "3 - Promising Research Evidence" on the Scientific Rating Scale based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The practice must have at least one study utilizing some form of control (e.g., untreated group, placebo group, matched wait list study) establishing the practice's benefit over the placebo, or found it to be comparable to or better than an appropriate comparison practice. Please see the Scientific Rating Scale for more information.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Safety and Child/Family Well-Being

Show relevant research...

Shepard, M. (1992). Predicting batterer recidivism five years after community intervention. Journal of Family Violence, 7(3), 167-178.

Type of Study: Long-term follow-up
Number of Participants: 100 men

Population:

  • Age range — 19 to 58
  • Race/Ethnicity — 85% White, 6% American Indian, 4% Black
  • Gender — Not Specified
  • Status — Men who had completed the DAIP program.

Location / Institution: Minnesota

Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations)
Researchers tracked court-mandated offenders who had been ordered to complete a 26-week education program over a 5-year period. Data was collected from agency records and questionnaires completed at the time of the intervention. Data on recidivism rates was collected from police data and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, as well as DAIP records. Forty percent were identified as recidivists. Men who had been any of the following: abusive for a shorter duration prior to the program, ordered to a chemical dependency program, in a chemical dependency program, abused as children, or previously convicted of other crimes were more likely to be recidivists. Variables related to the original intervention, such as the number of sessions attended, completion of the program, and type of court intervention (criminal or civil) did not significantly predict recidivism.

Length of post-intervention follow-up: 5 years after program participation.

Dobash, R. P., Dobash, R. E., Cavanagh, K., & Lewis, R. (1999). A research evaluation of British programmes for violent men. Journal of Social Policy, 28(2), 205-233.

Type of Study: Non-equivalent control groups.
Number of Participants: 122 Men, 134 women partners

Population:

  • Age range — Not Specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not Specified
  • Gender — Not Specified
  • Status — Men identified through pending criminal violence cases and their female partners.

Location / Institution: United Kingdom

Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations)
Men ordered by the court to one of two British batterer intervention programs, including CHANGE, which is based on the DAIP, were compared with men given other sanctions such as probation, prison time, or fines in a nonequivalent control group design. Men self-reported violence on the Violence Assessment Index. Women partners self-reported injuries on the Injury Assessment Index. Assessments were taken at 3 and 12 months after a baseline interview. By the end of a year, 67 percent of men in batterer’s programs had not committed another act of reported violence in comparison with 30 percent of men in the comparison group. Although they did not differ at three months, at one year, women in the intervention group were also less likely to report that their partner used violence “frequently.” This report did not show results from the CHANGE program separately from the alternative intervention.

Length of post-intervention follow-up: 12 months after baseline.

Taylor, B. G., Davis, R. C., & Maxwell, C. D. (2001). The effects of a group batterer treatment program: A randomized experiment in Brooklyn. Justice Quarterly, 18(1), 171–201.

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 376 men

Population:

  • Age range — 33.0 on average
  • Race/Ethnicity — 36% African American, 28% Hispanic, 21% Western Caribbean, 16% White, Asian, or other.
  • Gender — Not Specified
  • Status — Men convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense.

Location / Institution: Brooklyn, NY

Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations)
Men who agreed to undergo a batterer intervention program were randomly assigned to either a 40-hour DAIP- type program or to 40 hours of community service (custodial) that did not include a treatment component. Re-assault rates were assessed using official records, including arrests and complaints, and also interviews conducted with victims at intake, 6 months and 12 months. Those assigned to the intervention showed significantly lower levels of re-assault, based on official arrest and complaint records, and significantly longer periods until re-assault. However, reports by victims, using the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), showed no significant differences in rates of overall abuse or severe abuse during the 12-month follow-up period.

Length of post-intervention follow-up: 12 months after intake.

Feder, L., & Dugan, L. (2002). A test of the efficacy of court-mandated counseling for domestic violence offenders: The Broward Experiment. Justice Quarterly, 19(2), 343-375.

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 404 men

Population:

  • Age range — 19 to 71 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — 57% White, 36% Black, and 6% Hispanic
  • Gender — Not Specified
  • Status — Men convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.

Location / Institution: Broward County, FL

Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations)
A randomized control design assigned men into an experimental Duluth-type program (one-year probation and court-mandated counseling) or a control (one-year probation only) condition. The study followed the men for 12 months collecting data on self-reported violence using the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), victims’ reports, and official records of re-arrests. Batterers were also surveyed concerning attitudes about abuse using the Inventory of Beliefs about Wife Beating Scale and the Attitudes Towards Women Scale. No significant differences were found in rates of severe and minor abuse, rates of re-arrest, or attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding domestic violence. Further analysis indicated that greater age and employed status was associated with higher treatment attendance and lower rates of re-offending.

Length of post-intervention follow-up: 12 months after intake.

References

Gondolf, E. (2002). Batterer intervention systems: Issues, outcomes, and recommendations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Pence, E. & Taylor, T. (2003). Building safety for battered women and their children into the child protection system, Retrieved August 31, 2009, from: www.thegreenbook.info/documents/buildingsafety.pdf

Contact Information

Name: Scott Miller
Agency/Affiliation: Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP)
Website: www.duluth-model.org
Email:
Phone: (218) 722-2781 x121
Fax: (218) 722-0779

Date Reviewed: June 2008 (originally reviewed in April 2007)