英文摘要 |
The purpose of this study was to explore the applicability of using the URICA scale as a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of group counseling for domestic violence perpetrators and the differences between the stages of change. There were 22 batterers who were mandated to participate 6, 12, 18, or 24 group counseling sessions. The University of Rhode Island Change Assessment-Domestic Violence (URICA-DV) was used as a research tool to assess the effectiveness of the group counseling program and to measure the numbers of participating sessions on the scores of URICA at each stage. The study result showed that using URICA four-stage scores as indicators, each group was either in the thinking period or in the action period. Further comparing the pre- and post-test scores of the groups, the scores of the four stages of URICA of the 12-sessions group did not change significantly. On the other hand, for those who participated in 24 sessions, the scores of the four stages of URICA were different. Their "pre-thinking period" scores decreased, and scores in the other three stages (thinking, action, maintenance) increased and their variation decreased, indicating that the participants' performance was getting better and closer which was in line with the expected effect of participating groups. In addition, the number of sessions participating is positively correlated with the posttest maintenance period score, indicating that the more the number of sessions participating, the better the performance of the maintenance period. Furthermore, the correlation between the pre-test and post-test four-stage scores is also calculated to understand whether the pre-test score can predict the performance of post-test. In the 12-session group, the score of pre-test thinking period is positively correlated with the pre-test action period, post-test thinking period, and post-test action period. In the 24-session group, the score of pre-test thinking period was only positively related to the pre-test action period. The conclusion was that according to the changes and correlation in the scores pre- and post-test, it might be reasonably speculated that the effect of participating in 24 sessions is better than the effect of 12 sessions and the scores of "thinking period" of pre-test could predict the post-test score better. Finally, based on the results of the study, suggestions for practice and future research are put forward. |