Effectiveness of a rural anger management program in preventing domestic violence recidivism

Domestic violence in a rural area was investigated with special attention to the association of reduced recidivism and completion of an anger management program. In doing so, it explored nine hypotheses concerned with subjects who had been convicted on charges stemming from domestic violence behavior and how factors such as prior criminal history, gender, and age were associated with completion of anger management training and recurrence of violent behavior. Data was gathered from court documents for every domestic violence case that occurred in a rural county during a five-year period. Cross-tabulation of categorical results revealed incidence and recidivism rates by gender, age, and anger management program completion status. Subjects with prior criminal history were found to be more likely to be domestic violence offenders and more likely to re-offend. Most subjects did not complete an anger management program, but, for those who did, completion was found to be associated with modestly reduced recidivism. Neither anger management completion nor recidivism rates were found to be associated with gender or age of study subjects. Practical ways to apply findings are proposed for judicial, human services, and law enforcement areas. Future research is suggested to replicate findings through longitudinal studies and to implement more comprehensive evaluations of domestic violence interventions in rural human services practices.