Issues in Family Violence

Fall 2002

Gondolf's Progress and Discharge Criteria

Full article is accessible here

David Mandel

Described in his article, “Discharge Criteria fro Batterer Programs” (1995), this list represents one option for evaluating the progress of a batterer in an intervention program. The group facilitator uses following scale to score the client: 5=extremely present, 4=very present, 3=somewhat present, 2=a little present, 1=very little present, 0=no opinion, uncertain, not applicable.

_____Attendance: arrives at group session on time; socializes or lingers afterward; contacts program in advance of absence; has legitimate excuse for absences.

_____Non-Violence: has not recently physically abused partner, children or others; no apparent threats, intimidation or manipulation.

_____Sobriety: attends meeting sober; not high or drunk; no apparent abuse of alcohol or drugs during week; complying with ordered or referred drug and alcohol treatment.

_____Acceptance: admits that violence and abuse exists; not minimizing, blaming, or excusing the problem; realizes responsibility for abuse; identifies contribution to problem.

_____Using Techniques: takes conscious steps to avoid violence; refers to time-outs, self-talk, conflict resolution skills, etc. does homework assignments or recommendations.

_____Help-seeking: seeks information about alternatives; discusses options with others in the group: calls other participants for help; open to referrals and future support.

_____Process conscious: lets others speak one at time; acknowledges others’ contributions; asks questions of others without interrogating; heeds direction of counselors.

_____Actively Engaged: attentive body language and non-verbal response, maintains eye contact; speaks with feeling; follows topic of discussion in comments.

_____Self-disclosure: reveals struggles, feelings, fears, and self-doubts; not withholding or evading issues; not sarcastic or defensive.

_____Sensitive language: respectful of partner and women in general; non-sexist language and no pejorative slang; checks others who use sexist language. The full article is available for download at http://www.mincava.umn.edu/papers/gondolf/discharg.htm.

(c) 2002, The Non-Violence Alliance. Permission to reprint with the following information "Originally published in Issues in Family Violence, Volume 4, Issue 4 Fall 2002, The Non-Violence Alliance, www.endingviolence.com."