What Has Changed? A Critical Examination of the Duluth Model and Batterer Intervention / Partner Assault Response Programs

Abstract

This thesis is motivated by an interest in intimate partner violence within heterosexual partnerships, rooted in an inquiry that posits that historical and present responses to perpetrators of intimate partner violence remain relatively unchanged. This study examines what past and present literature has said about the effectiveness of court-mandated batterer intervention programs (BIP)/partner assault response programs (PAR) in the United States and Canada, with specific focus on the Duluth Model. This study seeks to explore how feminist theories have contributed to, and underpin the development of, partner assault response programs, how effective are BIP/PAR programs at accomplishing their intended goals and objectives, and in what ways have PAR programs developed, or failed to develop, since their conception. Using a thematic analysis of 23 scholarly articles, this study will discuss six over-arching themes, and sub-themes for greater analysis. These themes include the strengths of the Duluth model, critiques of the Duluth model, the modality of the Duluth model, alternative approaches to working with perpetrators of intimate partner violence, notions of victim safety and offender accountability, and what is meant by a coordinated community response to this issue. This thesis is not arguing or advocating for the erasure of partner assault response programs, rather, it seeks to explore how these programs can be re-imagined using a newly defined ‘radical’ feminist thought; one that encompasses intersectional and anti-carceral frameworks and approaches.