Do batterer subtypes actually matter? Treatment completion, treatment response, and recidivism across a batterer typology

It has been proposed that domestic violence offenders can be classified into distinct subgroups based on psychopathology and generality and severity of violence. This study examined a clinical sample of batterers to identify whether there were differences across batterer subtypes in regard to treatment completion, immediate treatment response, and recidivism. Indices of pathology, partner violence, and generalized violence were used to cluster analyze a sample of 175 batterers. The resulting three-cluster solution produced three different groups of batterers identified as generally violent/antisocial, borderline/ dysphoric, and family-only batterers. Results suggest that there are differences in treatment-related variables across batterer subtypes but that these differences also depend on the specific outcome variables and are not always consistent.