New intervention program reduces domestic violence recidivism rates, Iowa State study finds

This article highlights some innovative practice originating from my undergraduate Alma Mater: Iowa State University.

AMES, Iowa – Most states mandate that domestic violence offenders complete some type of batterer intervention program, but the success rates are often quite low. That is why the results of a new method developed by an Iowa State University professor are so promising.

Amie Zarling, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State, partnered with the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) to pilot her Achieving Change Through Values-Based Behavior program, or ACTV (pronounced active).  

Now a three-year study comparing offenders who completed ACTV with offenders in an existing DOC program showed significantly fewer ACTV offenders – a nearly 50 percent difference – reoffended and were charged in the year after treatment. The results are published online by the journal Psychology of Violence.

For more:

http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2017/07/05/actv