Evaluation of the intervention program intimate relationship without violence

Incidents of intimate partner violence rarely lead to a prosecution and sentencing. Even more so, offenders rarely get the opportunity to participate in interventions or treatment programs. Therefore, the Zurich Office of Justice introduced the short-term intervention program intimate relationship without violence (Partnerschaft ohne Gewalt, PoG). The PoG addresses people who have committed acts of violence in a current or former intimate relationship. The intervention program was evaluated. First, key terms are defined and theoretical concepts underlying the short-term intervention program are presented as well as the basic structure of the program. Subsequently, the effectiveness of the PoG is evaluated based on completion of program participation and the rate of recidivism. The results show that only 14% of the 128 persons who completed the program were recidivistic in comparison to a recidivism rate of 25% among the 64 persons who did not complete the program. Even though recidivism was notably lower after completing the program, the relationship between these two variables was not statistically significant. The underlying reasons are discussed. Furthermore, the relationship between the prognosis of the program instructor at the end of the program on future intimate partner violence and reoffending was significant. Finally, the results are compared to several findings in the literature and the evaluation is critically examined.