Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People (BV+)

Women and gender-diverse people in criminal justice settings (jails, prisons, and community corrections) with histories of anger, aggression and/or violence

This second edition of Beyond Violence is now entitled Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People to reflect the expanded definition of gender to include transgender and nonbinary people. This manualized curriculum is for those in justice settings (e.g., jails, prisons, and community corrections) with histories of anger, aggression, and/or violence. It focuses on both the violence and trauma experienced by the participant and the violence they may have committed. It is based on a four-level model of violence prevention, which considers the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. This is a 27-session (54-hour) intervention with a facilitator guide, participant workbook, and DVD. The facilitator’s manual is a step-by-step guide for running groups and includes the DVD, What I Want My Words To Do To You by Eve Ensler. BV+ utilizes various therapeutic strategies (e.g., psychoeducation, role playing, mindfulness activities, cognitive-behavioral restructuring, and grounding skills for triggers).

Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, LCSW

• Agency/Affiliation: Covington Training Institute and Center for Gender and Justice
• Website: https://www.stephaniecovington.com/books/bookstore/beyond-violence-a-prevention-program-for-justice-involved-women-and-gender-diverse-people/
• Email: sc@stephaniecovington.com
• Phone: (858) 454-8528

The goals of Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People are:

• Decrease anger, aggression, and violent outbursts
• Decrease depression and anxiety
• Decrease posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Increase self-efficacy
• Stabilize recovery
• Increase emotional regulation
• Increase understanding of trauma
• Increase appropriate expression of anger

The essential components of Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People (BV+) include:

• Designed as a group intervention and can be adapted for use with individuals
• Designed to include 6 to 10 women with one facilitator (however, co-facilitation is highly recommended)
• Curriculum should ideally be implemented sequentially in closed groups or individual sessions
• Four modules with specific topic areas for each of the 26 sessions, plus an Orientation Session
  • Module A: Self (7 sessions with a total of 31 activities):
    • Thinking Our Thoughts
    • Feeling Our Feelings
    • Violence and Trauma in Our Lives
    • The Effects of Trauma
    • Tools for Managing Anger
    • Understanding Ourselves
  • Module B: Relationships (10 sessions with a total of 17 activities):
    • Our Families
    • Communication
    • Power and Control
    • Conflict Resolution
    • Our Children
    • Nurturing in Action
    • Caregiving and Other/Over Time
    • Relationships in Prison
    • Everyday actions in Relationships
    • Creating Our Relationships
  • Module C: Community (4 sessions with a total of 12 activities):
    • My Community
    • The Importance of Safety
    • Creating Community
    • The Power of Community
  • Module D: Society (4 sessions with a total of 11 activities):
    • Society and Violence
    • Creating Change
    • Transforming Our Lives
    • Honoring Ourselves and Our Community
• A community version of the curricula entitled Beyond Anger and Violence: A Program for Women (BAV) is available

Adult Services

Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People (BV+) directly provides services to adults (regardless of whether they are parents or caregivers) and addresses the following:

• Anger, violence, aggression, and symptoms of trauma (depression, anxiety, PTSD)

Recommended Intensity

2-hour sessions once or twice per week

Recommended Duration

27 sessions (14 weeks or 27 weeks depending on frequency of sessions)

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Group or Residential Care
• Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)
• Outpatient Clinic

Homework

This program does include a homework component.

Participants have a journal to process their group experience and practice skills.

Languages

Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People (BV+) has materials available in the following languages other than English:

• Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed in this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

• Facilitator’s guide
• Flip chart
• Workbooks
• Room with chairs in a circle
• A group facilitator
• Art supplies for collage work

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

There are no minimum provider qualifications. This has been implemented by a range of educational levels from PhDs to peer educators.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual information:

• Covington, S. (2025). Beyond Violence+: A prevention program for justice-involved women and gender-diverse people. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The facilitator guides and journals can be purchased online, please contact kim@stephaniecovington.com or go to www.stephaniecovington.com and select “Bookstore.”

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact

Training Type/Location:

Training can be provided onsite or virtually. There are also trainings available at various sites in California and other parts of the U.S.

For more information see, www.stephaniecovington.com and select “Training”.

Number of days/hours:

Generally 3 full days onsite, or 4 days (5 hours per day) virtually

Pre-Implementation Materials

There are no pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People.

Formal Support for Implementation

There is formal support available for implementation of Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People as listed below:

Formal support for implementation, in addition to the written facilitator guide, can be provided via consultation to include onsite observations, Zoom meetings, email communication, and telephone calls. Consultation and technical assistance (TA) are optional and can be contracted for a specific period of time depending on the needs of the agency. Formal support can include implementation issues, facilitator refresher courses, use of fidelity measures (see below), leadership coaching, and trouble-shooting any challenges the agency is having regarding implementation. Information on consultation can be provided upon request. Please contact the program representative listed at the bottom of the page.

Fidelity Measures

There are fidelity measures for Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People as listed below:

The Fidelity Instrument and Implementation Guidelines can be used in a variety of ways: a self-report checklist; a self-report checklist to compare with a checklist completed by an observer; checklist used with video recordings. Fidelity Instrument and Implementation Guidelines are available upon request. Please contact the program representative listed at the bottom of the page.

Implementation Guides or Manuals

There are implementation guides or manuals for Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People as listed below:

The Facilitator Guide provides complete directions and implementation guidelines.

Implementation Cost

There are no studies of the costs of Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People.

Research on How to Implement the Program

Research has been conducted on how to implement Beyond Violence+: A Prevention Program for Justice-Involved Women and Gender-Diverse People as listed below:

Kubiak, S. P., Fedock, W. J., Tillander, G., Kim, E., & Bybee, D. (2014). Assessing the feasibility and fidelity of an intervention for women with violent offenses. Evaluation and Program Planning, 42, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2013.08.001

Child Welfare Outcome: Child/Family Well-Being

“What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?”

• Kubiak, S. P., Kim, W. J., Fedock, G., & Bybee, D. (2015). Testing a violence-prevention intervention for incarcerated women using a randomized control trial. Research on Social Work Practice, 25(3), 334–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731514534300

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 22

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Mean=34 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — 64% Black, 32% White, and 4% Other
  • Gender — 100% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were incarcerated females with violent offenses in the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) unit of state prisons.

  Location/Institution: Midwestern U.S.

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to assess Beyond Violence (BV) on the feasibility and efficacy of the intervention in a new setting (i.e., general population vs. specialized treatment unit). Participants were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) and the experimental condition (BV). Measures utilized include the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), the Short Screening Scale for DSM-IV Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and the State and Trait Anger scale (STAXI-2). Results indicate that outcomes reveal positive changes for both groups. Significant between-group differences favor BV on measures of anxiety and anger. There were significant changes in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms with moderate to large effect sizes across all women. Symptoms associated with all tested mental health disorders decreased significantly over time across interventions: depression (6.4 vs. 3.7), anxiety (5.3 vs. 3.4), and PTSD (6.0 vs. 3.4). The largest effect size was related to the change in PTSD symptoms (d = 1.30). Moreover, BV is cost-effective with only 20 sessions compared to 44 sessions for TAU. Limitations include small participant size, selection bias, and findings are specific to the population of this study (e.g., women who were convicted of violent offenses and were diagnosed to have substance abuse dependency by the SASSI).

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

• Kubiak , S., Fedock, G., Kim, W. J., & Bybee, D. (2016). Long-term outcomes of a RCT intervention study for women with violent crimes. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 7(4), 661–679. https://doi.org/10.1086/689356

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 35

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Not specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — 50% Black and 50% White
  • Gender — 100% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were incarcerated women serving life sentences.

  Location/Institution: Not specified

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to focus on long-term outcomes, assessing whether Beyond Violence (BV) is more effective than the treatment-as-usual condition (TAU) in reducing recidivism and relapse and enhancing treatment admission one year after prison release. Participants were randomly assigned to BV or TAU . Measures utilized include two administrative data sets, as well as parole officer case notes to track outcomes related to recidivism, relapse, and treatment admission during the follow-up period. Results indicate that women who received BV were less likely to recidivate than those who received TAU. The odds of women in the BV condition recidivating decreased by 79% compared to the rate for women in the TAU condition. Although women in BV were less likely to relapse (26% vs. 50%), the difference was not statistically significant. Women in BV were less likely to be referred to treatment, but there were no differences in treatment admission. Limitations include small participant size, selection bias, and the variability in measurement is problematic and argues for a more objective measure of relapse.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 12 months.

• Messina, N. P., & Calhoun, S. (2022). An experimental study of a peer-facilitated violence prevention program for women in prison. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(17–18), NP16130–NP16156. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211022063

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 145

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — Mean=39 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — 27% Black, 27% Hispanic, 27% White, and 20% Other
  • Gender — 100% Female
  • Status —

    Participants were incarcerated women serving life sentences.

  Location/Institution: California

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to report the results of a peer-facilitated model of the Beyond Violence (BV) program implemented in a women’s prison. Participants were randomly assigned to either the 20-session BV condition or to a waitlist control (WC) condition. Measures utilized include the Conflict Tactics Scales and Abuse Behavior Inventory, the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Subscale, the Patient Health Questionnaire—Anxiety Subscale, the Short Screening Scale for DSM-IV Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, the Buss-Warren Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), the Revised Instrumental and Expressive Representation Scales, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Results indicate that the background characteristics and preintervention outcome scores showed no significant differences between the groups at Time 1, indicating that randomization was successful. Mental health was fully supported as the results from the ANCOVA showed that BV participants had significantly lower mean scores than the WC participants on the mental health measures that included validated scales to assess for depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Results also indicated that the BV participants had significant reductions in the majority of the outcome measures at the postintervention assessment when compared to the WC participants. Limitations include sample size was larger than those in previous studies however, it may not have been large enough to detect some effects of BV on some of the outcomes; study sample may not be representative of female prison populations nationally (or internationally); did not have access to objective measures to determine mental health diagnoses, to substantiate self-reported histories of victimization and violence, or to determine in-custody violations; the potential for a biased estimation resulting from sample attrition; unable to assess postrelease recidivism due to the lengthy sentences of participants for serious violent crimes; and lack of follow-up.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

• Covington, S. (2022). Creating a trauma-informed justice system for women. In L. Gelsthorpe & S. Brown (Eds.). The Wiley Handbook on what works with girls and women in conflict with the law: A critical review of theory, practice, and policy. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119874898.ch12

• Messina, M. (2021). The evolution of gender-and trauma-responsive criminal-justice interventions for women. HSOA Journal of Addiction & Addictive Disorders, 8, Article 070. https://doi.org/10.24966/AAD-7276/100070

• Messina, N., & Esparza, P. (2022). Poking the bear: The inapplicability of the RNR principles for justice-involved women. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 140, Article 108798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2022.108798