New directions in the treatment of men who batter women

Singular paradigms and simple solutions are not sufficient in addressing the complex and historically sanctioned practice of wife battering. In this article I examine two philosophical approaches to the treatment of men who beat women and how epistemology shapes the assumptions that drive interventions and guide research. A selected review of 8 years of outcome research in batterer intervention reveals inconsistencies in measuring both physical and psychological violence and in how and when those measures are obtained. In addition, there has been a failure to examine violence in the context of community that includes court-ordered treatment and probation monitoring. Failure to address the epistemological assumptions behind why men beat women results in poorly developed interventions and may endanger women as well.