Get started
Work

Using Multiple Theoretical Frameworks to Develop a Model for a Multi-System Intervention with Domestic Offenders at High Risk to Re-offend

Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Through undertaking a process evaluation of the High Risk Safety project, a multi-site, multi-system intervention program for men accused of domestic violence offenses, this dissertation explored the contributions of four distinct bodies of literature (the Risk-Needs, Responsivity model, Common Factors model, Procedural Justice, and Social Bonds) toward identifying promising intervention practices in immediate intervention for domestic offenders at high risk to reoffend. Through the combination of a deductive qualitative analysis, a Six Themes model was developed to understand the intervention practices undertaken by the program to attempt to reduce men’s reoffending. The model highlighted the themes of needs and responsivity (from the Risk-Needs-Responsivity model), treating clients with dignity and caring and identifying and mitigating unfair practices (from the procedural justice literature), increasing social bonds for the accused (from the social bonds literature) and fostering interagency connections (atheoretical) as promising intervention practices in the High Risk Safety project. These findings also allowed for the development of an associated logic model for the project. Following the findings in the process evaluation, an exploratory inductive qualitative analysis was conducted on data related to the responsivity principle. Findings indicated that responsivity could be operationalized into three program-level factors: Persistence in Engaging Men, Creating an Environment Conducive to Learning, and Compassion and Understanding for Clients’ Involvement in the Criminal Justice System. Implications for the inclusion of the program-level factors toward developing a means of operationalizing responsivity within multi-system intervention programs are discussed. Overall findings from the dissertation emphasize the importance of treating clients with respect and caring in the process of engaging them in helpful program activities, the conceptual similarity between therapeutic alliance and the above, as well as the unique contribution of the Risk-Needs-Responsivity model for working with criminal justice populations. Finally, the dissertation’s results indicate that intervention practices identified as related to multiple extant bodies of literature can be utilized to develop a means by which responsivity can be operationalized in multi-systemic domestic violence interventions.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3135612932
Cites: 104
Cited by:
Related to: 10