Domestic abuse is a dominant social issue not only within the United Kingdom, but worldwide. Despite the increased recognition of domestic abuse over the last 50 years, and the positive work thus far in tackling the phenomena, it still remains a prevalent issue within the UK, with 1 in 5 adults experiencing domestic abuse within their lifetime (NCVD, 2024).
Interventions with male perpetrators have been in place within the UK since the 1980’s, in the form of Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programmes (DVPPs). However, many support services and interventions appear to be focussed mainly on the victim. Furthermore, the success of DVPPs can be questioned, given the high statistics within the UK at this time.
The aim of this study was to explore the nature of DVPP’s and critically analyse how effective they are in successfully reducing the occurrence of domestic abuse. Thematic analysis of the research conducted within this literature review has highlighted a number of key themes, such as measuring the motivations of a perpetrator to address their behaviour, barriers to participation and limitations of DVPPs. A recurring key theme was the notion of victim blaming, with an unjust focus on victims to complete intervention work, as opposed to the perpetrator, which neglects to address their abusive behaviours. Implications for social work practice have been identified, and include the difficulties of promoting social justice for both victims and perpetrators, as well as the challenges of multi-agency working.
My findings indicate that DVPPs can be effective in reducing abusive behaviours, however, the myriad limitations and barriers to participation hinder their sole success.
It is acknowledged that progress has been made in tackling the issue of domestic abuse over the years, however there is still much work to do, in holding perpetrators to account, and keeping victims safe.
Keywords: domestic abuse; interventions; perpetrators; programmes; victims