Evaluation of a faith-based intervention for intimate partner violence with men and women referred by the court in South Africa utilising the DASS42

Abstract

Intimate partner violence is a nefarious and major social and public health concern affecting millions of women, men and children globally. The criminal justice system plays a pivotal role in mandating interventions for perpetrators of partner abuse in efforts to eradicate violence and to ensure the safety of victims. The predominant interventions worldwide and in South Africa are based on the Duluth model. However, research indicates that the effectiveness of these programmes are limited, partly due to their theoretical underpinning of patriarchy being seen as the root cause of abusive behaviour. This study used a quantitative research approach to assess the impact of a gender inclusive faith-based intervention for perpetrators of intimate partner violence. It involved administering the full Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales as a pretest-posttest to measure changes in these negative affective states, which are highly correlated with partner abuse. The sample consisted of a cohort of 19 respondents who were court-referred for assault. The results revealed that holistically, all the scores decreased (i.e., indicated lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress), where the score for stress proved to be statistically significant pretest-posttest. This is a noteworthy finding because stress is implicated in the reoccurrence or continuation of abuse. The findings suggest that the intervention has the potential to deter violence between couples.