Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine whether characteristics such as distant relationship with father, childhood abuse, parental divorce, witnessed parental violence, and witnessed sibling abuse influenced the completion of a court-mandated batterer's intervention program. Social Learning Theory was used to explain the development and transmission of aggressive and violent behaviors and habits and how it is translated into program attrition. Information was abstracted from the archival clinical files of 180 adult male batterers aged 18 and above who completed at least an Intake from an existing state-approved Domestic Violence treatment facility in the Los Angeles area. The primary documents reviewed for this study included the program questionnaire, court progress report forms, and drug questionnaire. Contrary to the hypotheses, results from the binary logistical regression showed that none of the independent variables were significant predictors of program completion. However, Chi-Square Tests for Independence showed that each independent variable was found to be significantly associated with the dependent variable of program completion. The confirmation of such associations highlighted the connection that a batterer's behaviors is often times part of system of abusive behaviors adapted from childhood. This finding also revealed a need in further exploring the impact of these variables on completion that allow for accurately tailored programs that effectively meet the specific needs of batterers in treatment.