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Domestic Abuse Prevention: Emerging findings from the ‘Boys to Men’ Project

Domestic Abuse Prevention: Emerging findings from the ‘Boys to Men’ Project. Claire Fox, Mary Louise Corr, Keele University David Gadd, Manchester University In collaboration with Arch. Policy context. VAWG - DCSF Report (2010)  HO Strategy: Schools should include the issue within PSHE

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Domestic Abuse Prevention: Emerging findings from the ‘Boys to Men’ Project

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  1. Domestic Abuse Prevention: Emerging findings from the ‘Boys to Men’ Project Claire Fox, Mary Louise Corr, Keele University David Gadd, Manchester University In collaboration with Arch Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  2. Policy context • VAWG - DCSF Report (2010)  HO Strategy: • Schools should include the issue within PSHE • PSHE to be compulsory • National campaign, e.g. ‘This is abuse’ • VAWG Action Plan (2011): • Awareness raising campaign – teenage relationship violence • Issue of sexual consent to be covered in PSHE Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  3. Introduction 84% of secondary school pupils want it - schools best place (Mullender, 2000) A number of school-based prevention programmes have been developed in the UK But evidence as to the effectiveness of such programmes is limited The main aim of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of RwF Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  4. Evaluations in the US • Pre and post-test control group designs • Dating violence programmes • Foshee et al. (1998): • Pre and post test evaluation with treatment and control conditions, N = 1700 • Less abuse with the effect mediated by changes in DV norms, gender stereotyping and awareness of services Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  5. Evaluations in the US (cont.) • Jaycox et al. (2006): • Randomized experimental control group design with N = 2,000+ • Improvements in knowledge, less acceptance of F-M violence and greater likelihood of seeking help • Some of the improvements maintained at 6-month FU • ‘Floor effects’ – how to capture a shift to more extreme disapproval of violence? Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  6. Evaluations in the UK • Fairly small-scale, mixed methods • Pre and post test designs • Individual item analyses • E.g. comparisons % said ‘it’s OK’ before and % after • Descriptive statistics only • Examples: • Bell and Stanley (2006) • Evaluations of VAW initiative projects (Hester & Westmarland, 2005): • Evaluation of Zero Tolerance (Scottish Executive, 2002) • Evaluation of Trust Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  7. RwF: The Programme Primary-age and secondary-age children It looks at how positive relationships can be formed It aims to give children the knowledge, skills and advice to enable them to recognise an abusive relationship and seek help The sessions focus on: what abuse is the different types of abuse how it makes people feel the difficulties in leaving an abusive relationship, how to break out of an abusive relationship and what support is available. Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  8. The ADV Questionnaire We drew inspiration from the Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale – NOBAGS, developed for elementary-age children (Huesmann & Guerra, 1997). The Attitudes towards Domestic Violence Questionnaire: 12 questions which aim to capture young people’s thoughts about how wrong it is for a man to hit a woman and also a woman to hit a man, under certain conditions e.g. Do you think it is OK for a man to hit his partner/wife if HE says he is sorry afterwards? e.g. Suppose a man cheats on his wife/partner with another woman, do you think it is wrong for her to hit him? Each question is followed by a four-point scale – 1 = it’s really wrong, 2 = it’s sort of wrong, 3 = it’s sort of OK, 4 = it’s perfectly OK Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  9. Pilot evaluation 2009-10 • 542 children • 347 primary-age, 195 secondary-age • ADV completed in first and final session (pre and post-test) • Significant improvement in children’s attitudes pre to post-test • Need for a control group design Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  10. From Boys to Men • Why do some boys grow up to be domestic abuse perpetrators when others do not? • How can we change the attitudes and feelings that give rise to abusive tendencies among adolescents? • Mixed-method study: • Stage 1: Evaluation of RwF • Stage 2: Focus groups with young people • Stage 3: In-depth interviews with boys at risk of becoming perpetrators Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  11. Stage 1 1160 year 9 children 13 secondary schools 7 intervention (26 classes) 6 control (25 classes) 548 male and 575 female (37 missing) ADV completed in first and final session (pre and post-test): N = 870 (446 intervention, 424 control) And measures of help-seeking Experience questions completed at pre-test only Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  12. Experience questions • Three sections: • Victimisation (10 questions) • Perpetration (10 questions) • Witnessing (8 questions) • Response options: • Never, Once, More than Once? • If once or more than once has this happened in the last 12 months? Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  13. Experience questions (cont.) • Behaviours: • Pushed, slapped, grabbed • Punched, kicked, choked, beaten up • Pressured or forced to have sex • Pressured or forced to do anything else sexual • Controlling behaviour: • Stopped from seeing family/friends • Told who can’t speak to • Checked up on who phoned or sent messages to Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  14. Results - Attitudes 40.7% reported that hitting a partner was ‘OK’ in at least one of the circumstances 48.4% of boys compared to 33.3% of girls Which situations more acceptable? F  M if he hits her first (24.2% ‘OK’) F  M if he cheats on her (14.2% ‘OK’) M  F if she hits him first (13.4% ‘OK’) M  F if she cheats on him (8.7% ‘OK’) Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  15. Results - Victimisation • Moderate physical (16.5%) • Severe physical (4.3%) • Forced/pressured sex (4.4%) • 2.2% male, 5.5% female • Forced/pressured other sexual (13.3%) • 8.5% male, 13.6% female • Controlling behaviours (27%) Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  16. Results - Perpetration • Moderate physical (6.5%) • Severe physical (1.9%) • Forced/pressured sex (1.1%) • Forced/pressured other sexual (3.4%) • Controlling behaviours (15.2%) Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  17. Results - Witnessing • Moderate physical (18.7%): • 15.1% male, 21.4% female • Severe physical (7.7%): • 6.1% male, 9.4% female • Controlling behaviours (17.8%): • 12.6% male, 23.6% female Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  18. Pre – post test changes for attitudes Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  19. Pre – post test changes for help-seeking in relation to abuse in own relationship Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  20. Pre – post test changes for help-seeking in relation to witnessing DA Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  21. Summary/Conclusions Evidence that children’s attitudes do become less accepting of domestic violence More confident that due to RwF Are certain groups of children more or less receptive to the messages conveyed in RwF? Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

  22. Contacts • Email: c.fox@psy.keele.ac.uk, m.corr@ilpj.keele.ac.uk, Kate.Howard@archnorthstaffs.org.uk Preventing Domestic Abuse Workshop 2011

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