A randomized controlled trial of restorative justice-informed treatment for domestic violence crimes

Abstract

Recent innovation in domestic violence (DV) treatment suggests that when a Batterer Intervention Program (BIP) is combined with additional clinical elements including motivational or readiness to change strategies, subsequent incidents of violence can be reduced. Prompted by previous research on restorative justice (RJ) in reducing recidivism in crimes other than DV, a randomized controlled trial in Utah compared a typical BIP with a BIP that included restorative-informed practices, called Circles of Peace (CP). The findings reveal that the “hybrid” BIP-plus-CP results in significant reductions in new arrests (53%) and in crime severity scores (52%) for all offenses, including DV, over a 24-month period. We conclude that a “hybrid” BIP-plus-CP program should be considered as a viable treatment option for DV offenders. Implications for DV victims are discussed, as are the study’s limitations, including the fact that some elements typical of RJ programs could not be attained in this DV context.