title: A study of the influence of protective factors as a resource to African American males in traditional batterers' interventions.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between protective factors and the responses of African American males in traditional batterers' interventions. African American male batterers have been viewed as responding poorly to batterers' interventions and were reported in the literature as at risk for dropout and treatment failure. This research proposed that there were culturally related protective factors that enhanced traditional interventions for African American males, increasing their potential for changing abusive behaviors. This within-group study used secondary data to examine the influence of protective factors on the responses of 268 active duty Navy African American males. They were a sub-sample of 861 males randomly assigned to one of four different interventions for batterers. The interventions included a cognitive behavioral men's group, couple's group, safety and stabilization group, and a control group. Each of their cases had been officially substantiated by the Navy for assault of their spouses. The measures for the protective factors of religion, self-esteem, and family support were drawn from the original study's self-report measurement tool. The results of the statistical analyses were found to be significant. The protective factors performed as social controls for reducing certain types of abusive behaviors. Little research has been conducted on the influence of cultural factors on batterers intervention outcome for African Americans. This study established a strong support for further research.
authors.affiliation: Fleet and Family Support Programs, Naval Personnel Command, Millington, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Norma Gray
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002140:California; D019546:Couples Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D011897:Random Allocation; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome