Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP)
About This Program
Target Population: Adult males who are both court-ordered (civil or criminal) and voluntary participants
Program Overview
The DAIP was designed in 1981 as a Coordinated Community Response (CCR) and includes law enforcement, the criminal and civil courts, and human service providers working together to make communities safer for victims. The DAIP, located in Duluth, Minnesota, includes a 28-week education program for offenders. This model is commonly referred to as the "Duluth Model." The program uses the curriculum Creating a Process of Change for Men Who Batter, which was developed by the DAIP. Advocates at the DAIP contact the partners of men court-ordered to the program to offer advocacy, community resources, and education groups for women.
Program Goals
The program representative did not provide information about the program’s goals.
Logic Model
The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP).
Essential Components
The essential components of Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model include:
- The DIAP has two distinct aspects: the Coordinated Community Response and the "Duluth Model" offender education program:
- The Coordinated Community Response (CCR)
- Focus interventions on stopping an offender's use of violence, not fixing the relationship
- Use the power of the state through arrest and prosecution to place controls on an offender's behavior
- Monitor an offender's compliance with conditions of probation, protections orders, and court-mandated counseling
- Provide victims of abuse emergency housing, protections orders, information, and advocacy to increase safety and autonomy
- Monitor the community response by tracking cases to ensure intervening agencies conform to agreed-upon policies
- Resolve problems by examining and documenting the manner in which practitioners are responding to cases that appear to be in conflict with policies and administrative procedures (in Duluth, this is the responsibility of the DAIP)
- Work through problems in interagency meetings coordinated by the DAIP
- Work to shield children from violence by determining visitation conditions and by linking the safety of children to the safety of their mother
- "The Duluth Model" offender education program
- Assist the participant to understand that his acts of violence are a means of controlling his partner's actions, thoughts, and feelings by examining the intent of his acts of abuse and how it is tied to the belief system from which he operates
- Educate the participants through the use of group dialogue
- Increase the participant's understanding of the causes of his violence by examining the cultural and social contexts in which he uses violence against his partner
- Increase the participant's willingness to change his abusive behavior by examining the negative effects of his behavior on his relationship, his partner, his children, and himself
- Increase the participant's ability to hold himself responsible for the hurt he has caused by creating a safe and accountable environment
- Assist the participant to understand equality, respect, love, and partnership by examining the actions, intents, and beliefs necessary to realize these positive characteristics of relationships.
Program Delivery
Adult Services
Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) directly provides services to adults (regardless of whether they are parents or caregivers) and addresses the following:
- Males who have been arrested for abusing their partners
Recommended Intensity:
Weekly 1.5 hours classes
Recommended Duration:
28 weeks though many programs around the country have extended this to 52 weeks
Delivery Setting
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
Homework
Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) includes a homework component:
Homework can vary depending on the program. It is rare to give written homework due to a number of factors. Homework is typically to act or reflect on the outcomes of a class. For example, the men might be asked to monitor their thinking when they walk in their home and report back on what they discovered. This assignment is usually given as a way to empathize with what it is like to live with them.
Resources Needed to Run Program
The typical resources for implementing the program are:
- A room with chairs
- Relationship with the courts so there is access to police reports and accountability for men who re-offend and/or quit attending the men's program
- Relationship with a battered women's shelter for contact/advocacy for the victim
Manuals and Training
Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications
- Interest in working with men who batter
- An ability to be an educator
- An openness to be self-reflective regarding ones own struggle with privilege
- Trained in the use of the program's curriculum
There are no educational requirements for providers.
Manual Information
There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Training Information
There is training available for this program.
Training Type/Location:
Training is done either onsite or within individual communities.
Number of days/hours:
Trainings range from 2 to 3 days
Implementation Information
Pre-Implementation Materials
The program representative did not provide information about pre-implementation materials.
Formal Support for Implementation
The program representative did not provide information about formal support for implementation of Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP).
Fidelity Measures
The program representative did not provide information about fidelity measures of Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP).
Implementation Guides or Manuals
The program representative did not provide information about implementation guides or manuals for Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP).
Research on How to Implement the Program
The program representative did not provide information about research conducted on how to implement Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP).
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Child Welfare Outcomes: Safety and Child/Family Well-Being
Dobash, R. P., Dobash, R. E., Cavanagh, K., & Lewis, R. (1999). A research evaluation of British programmes for violent men. Journal of Social Policy, 28(2), 205–233. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279499005589
Type of Study:
Pretest–posttest study with a nonequivalent control group (Quasi-experimental)
Number of Participants:
122 Male and 134 Female partners
Population:
- Age — Not specified
- Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
- Gender — Not specified
- Status — Participants were men identified through pending criminal violence cases and their female partners.
Location/Institution: United Kingdom
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to present the initial results of the first British study of programmes for violent men. Participants were men ordered by the court to one of two British batterer intervention programs, including CHANGE, [based on the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP)], who were compared with men given other sanctions such as probation, prison time, or fines in a nonequivalent control group design. Measures utilized include the Violence Assessment Index, and the Injury Assessment Index. Results indicate that by the end of a year, 67 percent of men in batterer’s programs had not committed another act of reported violence in comparison with 30 percent of men in the comparison group. Although they did not differ at three months, at one year, women in the intervention group were also less likely to report that their partner used violence “frequently.” This report did not show results from the CHANGE program separately from the alternative intervention. Limitations include lack of randomization of participants and reliance on self-reported measures.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Approximately 5.5 months.
Taylor, B. G., Davis, R. C., & Maxwell, C. D. (2001). The effects of a group batterer treatment program: A randomized experiment in Brooklyn. Justice Quarterly, 18(1), 171–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820100094861
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
376
Population:
- Age — Mean=33.0 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 36% African American, 28% Hispanic, 21% Western Caribbean, and 16% White, Asian, or Other
- Gender — 100% Male
- Status — Participants were men convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense.
Location/Institution: Brooklyn, NY
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to present results from an experimental evaluation in which adult males were convicted of domestic violence. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 40-hour Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP)- type program or to 40 hours of community service that did not include a treatment component. Measures utilized include the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) and administrative data of re-assault rates using official records, including arrests and complaints, and also interviews conducted with victims at intake, 6 months, and 12 months. Results indicate that those assigned to the DAIP intervention showed significantly lower levels of re-assault, based on official arrest and complaint records, and significantly longer periods until re-assault. However, reports by victims, using the CTS, showed no significant differences in rates of overall abuse or severe abuse during the 12-month follow-up period. Limitations include a limited sample size due to case eligibility, low follow-up response rates, and treatment misassignment.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 and 12 months.
Feder, L., & Dugan, L. (2002). A test of the efficacy of court-mandated counseling for domestic violence offenders: The Broward Experiment. Justice Quarterly, 19(2), 343–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820200095271
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
404
Population:
- Age — 19–71 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 57% White, 36% Black, and 6% Hispanic
- Gender — 100% Male
- Status — Participants were men convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
Location/Institution: Broward County, FL
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a batterer’s intervention program in reducing repeated violence among men who were convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project - The Duluth Model (DAIP) program or a control condition. Measures utilized include the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), the Inventory of Beliefs about Wife Beating Scale, and the Attitudes Towards Women Scale. Results indicate that no significant differences were found in rates of severe and minor abuse; rates of re-arrest; or attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding domestic violence. Further analysis indicates that greater age and employed status was associated with higher treatment attendance and lower rates of re-offending. Limitations include low response rate from victims.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 and 12 months.
Zarling, A., & Russell, D. (2022) A randomized clinical trial of acceptance and commitment therapy and the Duluth Model classes for men court-mandated to a domestic violence program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 90(4), 326–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000722
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
338
Population:
- Age — 18–66 years (Mean=33.84 years)
- Race/Ethnicity — 62% White Non-Hispanic, 29% Black, 5% Hispanic, and 4% Asian
- Gender — 100% Male
- Status — Participants were men who were court-mandated to complete a domestic violence program after being convicted of assault against a female partner.
Location/Institution: Iowa’s 5th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to present findings of the first randomized controlled trial to compare Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with the Duluth Model curriculum [now called Domestic Abuse Intervention Project – The Duluth Model (DAIP)], which took place in community-based corrections for the treatment of men convicted of domestic violence. Participants were randomized to complete the 24 sessions of the ACT program or the Duluth Model Men’s Nonviolence Classes. Measures utilized include the Conflict Tactics Scale-2 (CTS-2), the Controlling Behaviors Scale (CBS), the Stalking Behavior Checklist (SBC), the Iowa Risk Assessment Revised and administrative data from the Iowa Corrections Offender Network (ICON). Results indicate that in intent-to-treat comparisons to Duluth, ACT participants did not show a difference in domestic assault charges at 1 year posttreatment. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy participants acquired significantly fewer violent charges and nonviolent charges compared to Duluth participants. Data from victims indicated that victims of ACT participants reported significantly fewer IPV behaviors than victims of Duluth participants on the Conflict Tactics Scale, the Controlling Behaviors Scale and the Stalking Behavior Checklist at 1 year posttreatment. Limitations include attrition was high, with over 60% of the ITT sample not completing the full program to which they were assigned, there was a smaller overall sample size than had been planned due to the pandemic, and results may not be applicable to “repeat offenders” or those who are very high risk.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 1 year.
Additional References
Gondolf, E. (2002). Batterer intervention systems: Issues, outcomes, and recommendations. Sage.
Pence, E. & Taylor, T. (2003). Building safety for battered women and their children into the child protection system. www.thegreenbook.info/documents/buildingsafety.pdf
Contact Information
- Scott Miller
- Agency/Affiliation: Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP)
- Website: www.duluth-model.org
- Email: smiller@theduluthmodel.org
- Phone: (218) 722-2781 x121
- Fax: (218) 722-0779
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: June 2023
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: April 2007
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: April 2007
