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Interventions for Abusive Behavior

Scientific Ratings in this Topic
  • 1 Well-Supported by Research Evidence
  • 2 Supported by Research Evidence
  • 3 Promising Research Evidence
  • 4 Evidence Fails to Demonstrate Effect
  • 5 Concerning Practice
  • NR Not able to be Rated

Topic Areas

Topic Areas

Definition

Interventions for Abusive Behavior are defined by the CEBC as programs that address a parent's or caregiver's abusive treatment of a child or adolescent. The abusive behavior may be one or more of the following types as defined by the CEBC for this topic area:

  • Physical abuse: Nonaccidental physical injury (ranging from minor bruises to severe fractures or death) as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting (with a hand, stick, strap, or other object), burning, or otherwise harming a child or adolescent
  • Sexual abuse: Activities perpetrated on a child or adolescent such as fondling their genitals, penetration, incest, rape, sodomy, indecent exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials
  • Emotional/Psychological abuse: A pattern of behavior that impairs a child's or adolescent's emotional development or sense of self-worth, such as constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding love, support, or guidance

This topic area is focused on interventions to stop the abusive behavior and prevent re-abuse. Several related topic areas have been reviewed by the CEBC, such as Anger Management Treatment (Adult) and Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence: Batterer Intervention Programs. Programs in these areas will not be listed in this topic area unless they meet the criteria below.

Interventions designed solely to address the needs of abused children are not covered in this topic area; these interventions may be found in the Trauma Treatment (Child & Adolescent) topic area.

The following link gives more information on this topic area as it is defined by the U.S. government: https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/definitions-child-abuse-and-neglect/

  • Target population: Abusive parents or caregivers
  • Services/types that fit: Typically outpatient services with individual, group, or family formats; services may be delivered in the home and may include assessment, case planning, mental health services, case management, education, and/or skill building
  • Delivered by: Child welfare staff, mental health professionals, or trained paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target stopping child or adolescent abuse and preventing recurrence as a measurable goal
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines abuse-related outcomes such as reductions of recurrence of maltreatment or outcomes for parents or caregivers such as changes in abusive behavior and related parenting practices (e.g., harsh parenting).

Downloadable Topic Area Summary

Definition

Interventions for Abusive Behavior are defined by the CEBC as programs that address a parent's or caregiver's abusive treatment of a child or adolescent. The abusive behavior may be one or more of the following types as defined by the CEBC for this topic area:

  • Physical abuse: Nonaccidental physical injury (ranging from minor bruises to severe fractures or death) as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting (with a hand, stick, strap, or other object), burning, or otherwise harming a child or adolescent
  • Sexual abuse: Activities perpetrated on a child or adolescent such as fondling their genitals, penetration, incest, rape, sodomy, indecent exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials
  • Emotional/Psychological abuse: A pattern of behavior that impairs a child's or adolescent's emotional development or sense of self-worth, such as constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding love, support, or guidance

This topic area is focused on interventions to stop the abusive behavior and prevent re-abuse. Several related topic areas have been reviewed by the CEBC, such as Anger Management Treatment (Adult) and Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence: Batterer Intervention Programs. Programs in these areas will not be listed in this topic area unless they meet the criteria below.

Interventions designed solely to address the needs of abused children are not covered in this topic area; these interventions may be found in the Trauma Treatment (Child & Adolescent) topic area.

The following link gives more information on this topic area as it is defined by the U.S. government: https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/definitions-child-abuse-and-neglect/

  • Target population: Abusive parents or caregivers
  • Services/types that fit: Typically outpatient services with individual, group, or family formats; services may be delivered in the home and may include assessment, case planning, mental health services, case management, education, and/or skill building
  • Delivered by: Child welfare staff, mental health professionals, or trained paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target stopping child or adolescent abuse and preventing recurrence as a measurable goal
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines abuse-related outcomes such as reductions of recurrence of maltreatment or outcomes for parents or caregivers such as changes in abusive behavior and related parenting practices (e.g., harsh parenting).

Downloadable Topic Area Summary

Why was this topic chosen by the Advisory Committee?

The Interventions for Abusive Behaviors topic area is relevant to child welfare because intervening with child abuse is one of the central functions of the child welfare system. Child welfare professionals need help identifying effective interventions that stop the abusive behavior by adults and prevent re-abuse. Interventions included in this topic area aim to minimize the risk that could lead to future child abuse, equip families with the skills and resources they need to ensure that children are safe in the home, and decrease the effects of abuse on children of all ages.

Why was this topic chosen by the Advisory Committee?

The Interventions for Abusive Behaviors topic area is relevant to child welfare because intervening with child abuse is one of the central functions of the child welfare system. Child welfare professionals need help identifying effective interventions that stop the abusive behavior by adults and prevent re-abuse. Interventions included in this topic area aim to minimize the risk that could lead to future child abuse, equip families with the skills and resources they need to ensure that children are safe in the home, and decrease the effects of abuse on children of all ages.

Topic Expert

The Interventions for Abusive Behavior topic area was added in 2015. Mark Chaffin, PhD was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2015 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2015 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Chaffin was not involved in identifying or rating them.

Topic Expert

The Interventions for Abusive Behavior topic area was added in 2015. Mark Chaffin, PhD was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2015 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2015 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Chaffin was not involved in identifying or rating them.

Programs

Multisystemic Therapy for Youth with Problem Sexual Behaviors

Multisystemic Therapy for Youth with Problem Sexual Behaviors (MST-PSB) is a clinical adaptation of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) that has been specifically designed and developed to treat youth (and their families) for problematic sexual behavior. Building upon the research and dissemination foundation of standard MST, the MST-PSB model represents a practice uniquely developed to address the multiple determinants underlying problematic juvenile sexual behavior.

MST-PSB is delivered in the community, occurs with a high level of intensity and frequency, incorporates treatment interventions from MST, and places a high premium on approaching each client and family as unique entities. Treatment incorporates intensive family therapy, parent training, cognitive-behavioral therapy, skills building, school and other community system interventions, and clarification work. Ensuring client, victim, and community safety is a paramount mission of the model.

Each youth/family has uniquely and collaboratively designed individual treatment plans, and each treatment site is encouraged to conjointly develop locally defined outcomes that suit community needs.

Scientific Rating 1

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) is designed to be a comprehensive approach for reducing or preventing the effects of exposure to child or family anger, aggression, and/or child physical abuse. Accordingly, it seeks to reduce many of the known risks for physical abuse/violence while also helping families to recover from the effects of exposure to these conditions. AF-CBT (originally named Abuse-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) teaches parents and children intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to enhance self-control, promote positive family relations, and reduce violent behavior. These skills include anger and anxiety management, how to challenge misattributions to support flexible thinking, child social skills, effective and safe discipline strategies, and healthy family communication and problem-solving skills. These skills seek to improve self-control, help families get along better, and maintain a safe and secure home environment. AF-CBT seeks to improve the relationships between children and their parents/caregivers who experience any of the following clinical concerns:

  • Family conflict/arguments
  • Anger and verbal aggression, including emotional abuse
  • Child behavior problems, including physical aggression
  • Threats or use of harsh/punitive/ineffective physical discipline or punishment
  • Child physical abuse

AF-CBT is a treatment based on principles derived from learning and behavioral theory, family systems, cognitive therapy, developmental victimology, and the psychology of aggression.

Scientific Rating 2

Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect

MST-CAN is for families with serious clinical needs who have come to the attention of child protective services (CPS) due to physical abuse and/or neglect. MST-CAN clinicians work on a team of 3 therapists, a crisis caseworker, a part-time psychiatrist who can treat children and adults, and a full-time supervisor. Each therapist carries a maximum caseload of 4 families. Treatment is provided to all adults and children in the family. Services are provided in the family's home or other convenient places. Extensive safety protocols are geared towards preventing re-abuse and placement of children and the team works to foster a close working relationship between CPS and the family. Empirically based treatments are used when needed and include functional analysis of the use of force, family communication, and problem solving, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anger management and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), clarification of the abuse or neglect, and Reinforcement-Based Therapy (RBT) for adult substance abuse.

Scientific Rating 2

SafeCare®

SafeCare® is an in-home parent training program that targets risk factors for child neglect and physical abuse in which parents are taught skills in three module areas: (1) how to interact in a positive manner with their children, to plan activities, and respond appropriately to challenging child behaviors, (2) to recognize hazards in the home in order to improve the home environment, and (3) to recognize and respond to symptoms of illness and injury, in addition to keeping good health records. All three modules should be used in the implementation of SafeCare®; any modifications to or elimination of modules need to be discussed with the program developers.

Scientific Rating 2

Combined Parent-Child Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

CPC-CBT: Empowering Families Who Are at Risk for Physical Abuse is a short-term (16-20 sessions), strength-based therapy program for children ages 3-17 and their parents (or caregivers) in families where parents engage in a continuum of coercive parenting strategies. These families can include those who have been substantiated for physical abuse, those who have had multiple unsubstantiated referrals, and those who fear they may lose control with their child. Children may present with PTSD symptoms, depression, externalizing behaviors and a host of difficulties that are targeted within CPC-CBT. The program is grounded in cognitive behavioral theory and incorporates elements (e.g., trauma narrative and processing, positive reinforcement, timeout, behavioral contracting) from CBT models for families who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and/or domestic violence, as well as elements from motivational, family systems, trauma, and developmental theories. CPC-CBT helps the child heal from the trauma of the physical abuse, empowers and motivates parents to modulate their emotions and use effective non-coercive parenting strategies, and strengthens parent-child relationships while helping families stop the cycle of violence.

Scientific Rating 3

Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare®

FFT - CW® is a family-system, cognitive-behavioral therapeutic intervention that addresses abuse, neglect, and associated risk/protective factors. Interventions are delivered by trained staff during conjoint sessions with youth and their families. Services are divided into two tracks based on initial level of risk. In lower risk cases, interventions are provided by case manager level providers and involve engaging and linking to community services. In higher risk cases, services are provided by therapists directly to family members. Sites may implement either or both tracks depending on need. Interventions are organized in distinct phases and include specific strategies for engaging young persons and family members into treatment, motivating them for change, assessing family patterns, implementing specific and individualized behavior change plans to address referral problems and relevant risk factors, and generalizing changes in multiple systems. Services last approximately 5 to 7 months. Location of services is flexible with most services offered in homes.

Scientific Rating 3

Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their School-age Children 5 to 11 Years

The Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their School Age Children 5 to 11 Years is a 15-session program that is group-based, and family-centered. During group sessions, parents and their children attend separate groups that meet concurrently. Each session is scheduled for 2.5 hours with a 20-minute break in which parents and children get together and have fun.

The lessons in the program are based on the known parenting behaviors that contribute to child maltreatment:

  • Inappropriate parental expectations
  • Parental lack of empathy in meeting the needs of their children
  • Strong belief in the use of corporal punishment
  • Reversing parent-child family roles
  • Oppressing children's power and independence

Assessment (pre, process, and post) of parent's parenting and child rearing beliefs, knowledge, and skills allows the program facilitators to measure the attainment of lesson competencies.

Scientific Rating 3

Nurturing Skills™ for Families

Nurturing Skills™ for Families (NSF) is a model of the Nurturing Parenting® Programs designed to prevent child abuse and neglect by addressing key areas that contribute to a safe and healthy family environment. The program aims to promote positive family practices, enhance parental knowledge and skills, improve communication and problem-solving abilities, build emotional resilience, strengthen family bonds, address risk factors, foster community support, and encourage accountability.

This flexible program is tailored to meet the needs of families with children ranging from prenatal to 19 years old. The Lesson Guide for Parents contains over 80 individual lessons presented across 16 competency areas, with core competency lessons forming the program's basic structure. Additional lessons allow parent educators to customize the program to suit the specific needs of each group or family.

Although the program representatives state that the model can be used with all families, it is only rated in the Interventions for Abusive Behaviors on research with families involved in the child welfare system.

Scientific Rating 3

Parents Anonymous®

Parents Anonymous® is designed to be both a prevention and treatment program that strengthens families that are at risk of becoming (or already are) involved in the child welfare system, have behavioral health challenges, substance use disorders or face other family issues. It is open to any parent or caregiver in a parenting role who is seeking emotional support, personal growth and change, and to improve parent, child and youth well-being regardless of the age or special challenges of their children or youth including severe emotional concerns. Services include weekly support groups, peer parent partner services (such as advocacy, kinship navigator services, in-home parenting, and supportive services including linkages to community resources), and helpline services. The Parents Anonymous® program aims to mitigate the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) for parents/caregivers and prevent the occurrence of ACEs for their children and teens. The program also aims to build on the strengths of all family members and enhance family well-being by increasing protective factors through trauma-informed practices and decreasing risks, substance abuse, and domestic violence.

Scientific Rating 3

Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children

The Caring Dads program combines elements of parenting, fathering, and child protection practice to address the needs of maltreating fathers. Program principles emphasize the need to:

  • Enhance men's motivation
  • Promote child-centered fathering
  • Address men's ability to engage in respectful, non-abusive co-parenting with children's mothers
  • Recognize that children's experience of trauma will impact the rate of possible change
  • Work collaboratively with other service providers to ensure that children benefit (and are not unintentionally harmed) as a result of father's participation in intervention

The program uses a combination of motivation enhancement, parent education (including skills training and behavioral practice), and cognitive behavioral therapy to:

  • Improve men's recognition and prioritization of children's needs
  • Improve men's understanding of developmental stages
  • Improve men's respect and support for children's relationships with their mothers
  • Improve men's listening and using praise
  • Improve men's empathy for children's experiences of maltreatment
  • Identify and counter the distortions underlying men's past, and potentially ongoing, abuse of their children and/or children's mothers

Scientific Rating NR

Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

The Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers is a family-centered program designed for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Both parents and their children birth to five years participate in home-based, group-based, or combination group-based and home-based program models. Lessons are competency-based ensuring parental learning and mastery of skills.

The program lessons focus on remediating five parenting patterns known to form the basis of maltreatment:

  • Having inappropriate developmental expectations of children
  • Demonstrating a consistent lack of empathy towards meeting children's needs
  • Expressing a strong belief in the use of corporal punishment and utilizing spanking as their principle means of discipline
  • Reversing the role responsibilities of parents and children so that children learn to become the caregivers to their parents
  • Oppressing the power and independence of children by demanding strict obedience to their commands

Built in assessments (pre, process, and post) allow the practitioner and the parents to track the acquisition of new knowledge, beliefs and skills.

Scientific Rating NR

The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation

The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation (GLM) offers a comprehensive, targeted, and individually meaningful framework for rehabilitative work with offenders. The ethical core of the GLM is that of human rights and it starts from the assumption that while offenders have obligations to respect other peoples' entitlements to well-being and freedom, they are also entitled to the same considerations. This is particularly so when it comes to the implementation of punishment and reintegration initiatives. Two fundamental intervention aims follow from this ethical starting point: the enhancement of offenders' well-being and reduction of their risk of further offending. According to the GLM, these goals are inextricably linked and the best way to create a safer society is to assist offenders to adopt more fulfilling and socially integrated lifestyles.

The GLM is grounded in the ethical concept of human dignity and universal human rights, and as such it has a strong emphasis on human agency. That is, the GLM is concerned with individuals' ability to formulate and select goals, construct plans, and to act freely in the implementation of these plans. A closely related assumption is the basic premise that offenders, like all humans, value certain states of mind, personal characteristics, and experiences, which are defined in the GLM as primary goods. These are defined as:

  • Life (including healthy living and functioning)
  • Knowledge (how well informed one feels about things that are important to them)
  • Excellence in play (hobbies and recreational pursuits)
  • Excellence in work (including mastery experiences)
  • Excellence in agency (autonomy, power and self-directedness)
  • Inner peace (freedom from emotional turmoil and stress)
  • Relatedness (including intimate, romantic, and familial relationships)
  • Community (connection to wider social groups)
  • Spirituality (in the broad sense of finding meaning and purpose in life)
  • Pleasure (feeling good in the here and now)
  • Creativity (expressing oneself through alternative forms)

Whilst it is assumed that all humans seek out all the primary goods to some degree, the weightings or priorities given to specific primary goods reflect an offender's values and life priorities. Moreover, the existence of a number of practical identities, based on, for example, family roles (e.g., parent), work (e.g., psychologist), and leisure (e.g., rugby player) mean that an individual might draw on different value sources in different contexts, depending on the normative values underpinning each practical identity.

Instrumental goods, or secondary goods, provide concrete means of securing primary goods and take the form of approach goals. For example, completing an apprenticeship might satisfy the primary goods of knowledge and excellence in work, whereas joining an adult sports team or cultural club might satisfy the primary good of community. Such activities are incompatible with dynamic risk factors, meaning that avoidance goals are indirectly targeted through the GLM's focus on approach goals.

Scientific Rating NR

Programs

Multisystemic Therapy for Youth with Problem Sexual Behaviors

Multisystemic Therapy for Youth with Problem Sexual Behaviors (MST-PSB) is a clinical adaptation of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) that has been specifically designed and developed to treat youth (and their families) for problematic sexual behavior. Building upon the research and dissemination foundation of standard MST, the MST-PSB model represents a practice uniquely developed to address the multiple determinants underlying problematic juvenile sexual behavior.

MST-PSB is delivered in the community, occurs with a high level of intensity and frequency, incorporates treatment interventions from MST, and places a high premium on approaching each client and family as unique entities. Treatment incorporates intensive family therapy, parent training, cognitive-behavioral therapy, skills building, school and other community system interventions, and clarification work. Ensuring client, victim, and community safety is a paramount mission of the model.

Each youth/family has uniquely and collaboratively designed individual treatment plans, and each treatment site is encouraged to conjointly develop locally defined outcomes that suit community needs.

Scientific Rating 1

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) is designed to be a comprehensive approach for reducing or preventing the effects of exposure to child or family anger, aggression, and/or child physical abuse. Accordingly, it seeks to reduce many of the known risks for physical abuse/violence while also helping families to recover from the effects of exposure to these conditions. AF-CBT (originally named Abuse-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) teaches parents and children intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to enhance self-control, promote positive family relations, and reduce violent behavior. These skills include anger and anxiety management, how to challenge misattributions to support flexible thinking, child social skills, effective and safe discipline strategies, and healthy family communication and problem-solving skills. These skills seek to improve self-control, help families get along better, and maintain a safe and secure home environment. AF-CBT seeks to improve the relationships between children and their parents/caregivers who experience any of the following clinical concerns:

  • Family conflict/arguments
  • Anger and verbal aggression, including emotional abuse
  • Child behavior problems, including physical aggression
  • Threats or use of harsh/punitive/ineffective physical discipline or punishment
  • Child physical abuse

AF-CBT is a treatment based on principles derived from learning and behavioral theory, family systems, cognitive therapy, developmental victimology, and the psychology of aggression.

Scientific Rating 2

Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect

MST-CAN is for families with serious clinical needs who have come to the attention of child protective services (CPS) due to physical abuse and/or neglect. MST-CAN clinicians work on a team of 3 therapists, a crisis caseworker, a part-time psychiatrist who can treat children and adults, and a full-time supervisor. Each therapist carries a maximum caseload of 4 families. Treatment is provided to all adults and children in the family. Services are provided in the family's home or other convenient places. Extensive safety protocols are geared towards preventing re-abuse and placement of children and the team works to foster a close working relationship between CPS and the family. Empirically based treatments are used when needed and include functional analysis of the use of force, family communication, and problem solving, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anger management and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), clarification of the abuse or neglect, and Reinforcement-Based Therapy (RBT) for adult substance abuse.

Scientific Rating 2

SafeCare®

SafeCare® is an in-home parent training program that targets risk factors for child neglect and physical abuse in which parents are taught skills in three module areas: (1) how to interact in a positive manner with their children, to plan activities, and respond appropriately to challenging child behaviors, (2) to recognize hazards in the home in order to improve the home environment, and (3) to recognize and respond to symptoms of illness and injury, in addition to keeping good health records. All three modules should be used in the implementation of SafeCare®; any modifications to or elimination of modules need to be discussed with the program developers.

Scientific Rating 2

Combined Parent-Child Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

CPC-CBT: Empowering Families Who Are at Risk for Physical Abuse is a short-term (16-20 sessions), strength-based therapy program for children ages 3-17 and their parents (or caregivers) in families where parents engage in a continuum of coercive parenting strategies. These families can include those who have been substantiated for physical abuse, those who have had multiple unsubstantiated referrals, and those who fear they may lose control with their child. Children may present with PTSD symptoms, depression, externalizing behaviors and a host of difficulties that are targeted within CPC-CBT. The program is grounded in cognitive behavioral theory and incorporates elements (e.g., trauma narrative and processing, positive reinforcement, timeout, behavioral contracting) from CBT models for families who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and/or domestic violence, as well as elements from motivational, family systems, trauma, and developmental theories. CPC-CBT helps the child heal from the trauma of the physical abuse, empowers and motivates parents to modulate their emotions and use effective non-coercive parenting strategies, and strengthens parent-child relationships while helping families stop the cycle of violence.

Scientific Rating 3

Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare®

FFT - CW® is a family-system, cognitive-behavioral therapeutic intervention that addresses abuse, neglect, and associated risk/protective factors. Interventions are delivered by trained staff during conjoint sessions with youth and their families. Services are divided into two tracks based on initial level of risk. In lower risk cases, interventions are provided by case manager level providers and involve engaging and linking to community services. In higher risk cases, services are provided by therapists directly to family members. Sites may implement either or both tracks depending on need. Interventions are organized in distinct phases and include specific strategies for engaging young persons and family members into treatment, motivating them for change, assessing family patterns, implementing specific and individualized behavior change plans to address referral problems and relevant risk factors, and generalizing changes in multiple systems. Services last approximately 5 to 7 months. Location of services is flexible with most services offered in homes.

Scientific Rating 3

Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their School-age Children 5 to 11 Years

The Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their School Age Children 5 to 11 Years is a 15-session program that is group-based, and family-centered. During group sessions, parents and their children attend separate groups that meet concurrently. Each session is scheduled for 2.5 hours with a 20-minute break in which parents and children get together and have fun.

The lessons in the program are based on the known parenting behaviors that contribute to child maltreatment:

  • Inappropriate parental expectations
  • Parental lack of empathy in meeting the needs of their children
  • Strong belief in the use of corporal punishment
  • Reversing parent-child family roles
  • Oppressing children's power and independence

Assessment (pre, process, and post) of parent's parenting and child rearing beliefs, knowledge, and skills allows the program facilitators to measure the attainment of lesson competencies.

Scientific Rating 3

Nurturing Skills™ for Families

Nurturing Skills™ for Families (NSF) is a model of the Nurturing Parenting® Programs designed to prevent child abuse and neglect by addressing key areas that contribute to a safe and healthy family environment. The program aims to promote positive family practices, enhance parental knowledge and skills, improve communication and problem-solving abilities, build emotional resilience, strengthen family bonds, address risk factors, foster community support, and encourage accountability.

This flexible program is tailored to meet the needs of families with children ranging from prenatal to 19 years old. The Lesson Guide for Parents contains over 80 individual lessons presented across 16 competency areas, with core competency lessons forming the program's basic structure. Additional lessons allow parent educators to customize the program to suit the specific needs of each group or family.

Although the program representatives state that the model can be used with all families, it is only rated in the Interventions for Abusive Behaviors on research with families involved in the child welfare system.

Scientific Rating 3

Parents Anonymous®

Parents Anonymous® is designed to be both a prevention and treatment program that strengthens families that are at risk of becoming (or already are) involved in the child welfare system, have behavioral health challenges, substance use disorders or face other family issues. It is open to any parent or caregiver in a parenting role who is seeking emotional support, personal growth and change, and to improve parent, child and youth well-being regardless of the age or special challenges of their children or youth including severe emotional concerns. Services include weekly support groups, peer parent partner services (such as advocacy, kinship navigator services, in-home parenting, and supportive services including linkages to community resources), and helpline services. The Parents Anonymous® program aims to mitigate the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) for parents/caregivers and prevent the occurrence of ACEs for their children and teens. The program also aims to build on the strengths of all family members and enhance family well-being by increasing protective factors through trauma-informed practices and decreasing risks, substance abuse, and domestic violence.

Scientific Rating 3

Caring Dads: Helping Fathers Value Their Children

The Caring Dads program combines elements of parenting, fathering, and child protection practice to address the needs of maltreating fathers. Program principles emphasize the need to:

  • Enhance men's motivation
  • Promote child-centered fathering
  • Address men's ability to engage in respectful, non-abusive co-parenting with children's mothers
  • Recognize that children's experience of trauma will impact the rate of possible change
  • Work collaboratively with other service providers to ensure that children benefit (and are not unintentionally harmed) as a result of father's participation in intervention

The program uses a combination of motivation enhancement, parent education (including skills training and behavioral practice), and cognitive behavioral therapy to:

  • Improve men's recognition and prioritization of children's needs
  • Improve men's understanding of developmental stages
  • Improve men's respect and support for children's relationships with their mothers
  • Improve men's listening and using praise
  • Improve men's empathy for children's experiences of maltreatment
  • Identify and counter the distortions underlying men's past, and potentially ongoing, abuse of their children and/or children's mothers

Scientific Rating NR

Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

The Nurturing Parenting Program for Parents and their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers is a family-centered program designed for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Both parents and their children birth to five years participate in home-based, group-based, or combination group-based and home-based program models. Lessons are competency-based ensuring parental learning and mastery of skills.

The program lessons focus on remediating five parenting patterns known to form the basis of maltreatment:

  • Having inappropriate developmental expectations of children
  • Demonstrating a consistent lack of empathy towards meeting children's needs
  • Expressing a strong belief in the use of corporal punishment and utilizing spanking as their principle means of discipline
  • Reversing the role responsibilities of parents and children so that children learn to become the caregivers to their parents
  • Oppressing the power and independence of children by demanding strict obedience to their commands

Built in assessments (pre, process, and post) allow the practitioner and the parents to track the acquisition of new knowledge, beliefs and skills.

Scientific Rating NR

The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation

The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation (GLM) offers a comprehensive, targeted, and individually meaningful framework for rehabilitative work with offenders. The ethical core of the GLM is that of human rights and it starts from the assumption that while offenders have obligations to respect other peoples' entitlements to well-being and freedom, they are also entitled to the same considerations. This is particularly so when it comes to the implementation of punishment and reintegration initiatives. Two fundamental intervention aims follow from this ethical starting point: the enhancement of offenders' well-being and reduction of their risk of further offending. According to the GLM, these goals are inextricably linked and the best way to create a safer society is to assist offenders to adopt more fulfilling and socially integrated lifestyles.

The GLM is grounded in the ethical concept of human dignity and universal human rights, and as such it has a strong emphasis on human agency. That is, the GLM is concerned with individuals' ability to formulate and select goals, construct plans, and to act freely in the implementation of these plans. A closely related assumption is the basic premise that offenders, like all humans, value certain states of mind, personal characteristics, and experiences, which are defined in the GLM as primary goods. These are defined as:

  • Life (including healthy living and functioning)
  • Knowledge (how well informed one feels about things that are important to them)
  • Excellence in play (hobbies and recreational pursuits)
  • Excellence in work (including mastery experiences)
  • Excellence in agency (autonomy, power and self-directedness)
  • Inner peace (freedom from emotional turmoil and stress)
  • Relatedness (including intimate, romantic, and familial relationships)
  • Community (connection to wider social groups)
  • Spirituality (in the broad sense of finding meaning and purpose in life)
  • Pleasure (feeling good in the here and now)
  • Creativity (expressing oneself through alternative forms)

Whilst it is assumed that all humans seek out all the primary goods to some degree, the weightings or priorities given to specific primary goods reflect an offender's values and life priorities. Moreover, the existence of a number of practical identities, based on, for example, family roles (e.g., parent), work (e.g., psychologist), and leisure (e.g., rugby player) mean that an individual might draw on different value sources in different contexts, depending on the normative values underpinning each practical identity.

Instrumental goods, or secondary goods, provide concrete means of securing primary goods and take the form of approach goals. For example, completing an apprenticeship might satisfy the primary goods of knowledge and excellence in work, whereas joining an adult sports team or cultural club might satisfy the primary good of community. Such activities are incompatible with dynamic risk factors, meaning that avoidance goals are indirectly targeted through the GLM's focus on approach goals.

Scientific Rating NR