'REPROVIDE: group intervention for men using abusive behaviour' Workshop Paper

The evidence for the effectiveness (or otherwise) of domestic violence perpetrator programmes is weak, meaning that in the UK, commissioning bodies are often reluctant to fund such programmes. In a bid to establish a solid evidence base, REPROVIDE, a research programme funded by the UK National Institute of Health Research, has been developing and testing a 6-month group intervention for men who are using abusive behaviour in intimate relationships. The REPROVIDE study design is an individually randomised controlled trial with a mixed methods process evaluation. The study is nearing the end of the pilot phase and preliminary findings including acceptability and feasibility can be presented. We can share for critique our initial theory of change and early data on the main help-seeking routes and motivations for change for men who came into our study. Our main measure of abuse uses the Impact toolkit developed by the European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence, plus a series of other related measures (health, mental health, drugs, alcohol + past abuse and current service use). But moving towards a full trial and needing to fix our primary outcome, we will have to weigh up and consider the reliability of perpetrators reports of changes in abuse against those of their partners and ex partners.