Addressing Intimate Partner Violence: Evaluating Interventions with Male Perpetrators vs Female Victims

Our objective is to investigate whether and how a training program targeting male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) influences recidivism and the mental health and productivity of men. While improvements in earnings or outside options of women may tame men into lower violence, they may instead generate male backlash by priming male identity. Observational studies suggest that proximate causes of IPV perpetration include stress, jealousy, and controlling behaviour. Our hypothesis is that these tendencies can be modified through training in mindfulness or CBT or through creating social networks for men, but there is no evidence in this area. We are therefore conducting in the state of Ceara, Brazil, a randomized control trial with 480 male IPV perpetrators, half assigned to an intervention.