EXPERT SYSTEM INTERVENTION--DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OFFENDERS

男女伴侣之间的暴力行为对妇女的身体和心理健康构成了重大威胁。评估法院规定的家庭暴力治疗效果的研究结果令人失望。强制治疗的一个主要问题是，它往往是标准化的，是“一刀切”的，忽视了动机水平和改变准备程度的个体差异。我们建议通过开发和试点测试一种基于计算机管理的跨理论模型(TTM)的干预措施来实现服务的个性化，该干预措施是为个人准备结束暴力而量身定做的。这项干预将作为对殴打男子的传统集体治疗的补充，以增加参与治疗的意愿并结束对伴侣的暴力行为。这个第一阶段项目的目的是规范TTM措施，制定TTM干预措施，并通过评估研究人员的招聘率和对干预材料的反应来确定这种方法的可行性。转介给施暴者治疗机构的成年男性将完成测量正常化调查(n=100)或参与干预材料的初步测试(n=50)。如果可行性标准得到满足，下一步将在第二阶段研究中进行随机临床试验，以评估专家系统干预对停止伴侣暴力的效果。拟议的商业应用：男性对女性伴侣的暴力对社会造成了巨大的个人、社会和经济损失，到目前为止，几乎没有证据表明法院强制施暴者的治疗会降低再次袭击的可能性。一种有效、低成本的专家系统干预，可以提高罪犯从治疗中受益的意愿，并结束对伴侣的暴力行为，具有巨大的商业潜力。

Male-to-female partner violence poses a major threat to the physical and emotional wellbeing of women. Research assessing the efficacy of court- mandated domestic violence treatment has yielded disappointing results. A major problem with mandated treatment is that it tends to be standardized and "one-size-fits-all," neglecting individual differences in motivation level and readiness to change. We propose to individualize services by developing and pilot-testing a computer-administered Transtheoretical Model (TTM) based intervention tailored to individual readiness to end the violence. The intervention would be delivered as an adjunct to traditional group treatment for battering men to increase readiness to participate in treatment and end violence against a partner. The aims of this Phase I project are to norm the TTM measures, develop the TTM interventions, and determine the feasibility of this approach by assessing study recruitment rates and reactions to the intervention materials. Adult males referred to a batterer treatment agency will complete surveys for measure norming (n=l00) or participate in a pilot- test of the intervention materials (n=50). If feasibility criteria are met, the next step would be to conduct a randomized clinical trial in a Phase II study to assess the efficacy of the expert system intervention for partner violence cessation. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Male-to-female partner violence takes an enormous personal, social and financial toll on society, and to date there is little evidence that court- mandated batterer treatment reduces the likelihood of re-assault. An effective, low-cost, expert system intervention that can increase offenders' readiness to benefit from treatment and end the violence against a partner has significant commercial potential.