Changing perpetrators

I’ve written about the subject of domestic violence and abuse many times before, usually with the emphasis on the role of housing providers in prevention, early intervention and supporting victims and their families. This article is different in that it focuses on supporting the perpetrators of the abuse, something that Gentoo have only recently become actively involved in.

Our reason for doing this is an attempt to tackle the source of the issue – the behaviour of the perpetrator – so that further violence and abuse is minimised or eradicated altogether. As you would expect, this has both social and business benefits.

Gentoo, alongside Barnardo’s, Impact Family Services and Wearside Women in Need have formed the BIG Partnership, which supports perpetrators of domestic abuse to change their behaviour, which in turn achieves the important outcome of the victim and their family feeling safer. We acknowledge women can be perpetrators too, however this programme is targeted at male perpetrators as this represents the perpetrator profile we usually have to deal with.

“By tackling the issue of domestic violence and abuse, including working with perpetrators to treat the root cause, we can make a significant difference to people’s lives while also realising the business benefits that go with it.”

When supporting victims the starting point is often crisis point. This is inevitable given the situation many victims find themselves in and investment into supporting them and their families is crucial. However, this alone does not address the root cause of the problem – the perpetrator. To break the cycle of abuse the perpetrator’s behaviour needs to change.

Best opportunity

Perpetrators often only receive support to change their behaviour once they have entered the criminal justice system. The BIG Programme seeks to work with perpetrators before this stage and engage them at the earliest possible opportunity, rather than post-arrest.

The programme is funded by the Northumbria Police Innovation Fund via Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC), Vera Baird. The way the partnership works is that experienced staff from Barnardo’s and Impact Family Services facilitate a 26-week programme. Support for women whose partner or ex-partner is attending the programme is provided by Wearside Women in Need. Gentoo then works with tenants who are on the programme to provide wrap-around ‘key worker’ support to ensure they are given the best opportunity to make the necessary changes. In supporting perpetrators in this way we can help protect victims and their families.

There are a range of conflicting views around whether programmes of this nature actually work. However, the recently published Project Mirabal report found many men, women and children’s lives were improved following a domestic violence perpetrator programme. The researchers state that overall, they are optimistic about the ability of such programmes to play an important part in the quest to end domestic violence and abuse.

Safe and secure

So, what are the benefits? Gentoo takes community safety matters extremely seriously and employs a dedicated team to tackle anti-social behaviour (including domestic violence) and safeguarding issues. Our overall aim is to ensure everyone in our communities feels safe and secure.

The individual benefits of these programmes for perpetrators, victims, their children and wider families are clear in terms of improved quality of life, improved physical and emotional well-being, improved confidence, improved feelings of safety and so on.

In terms of business benefits, did you know that victims of domestic abuse are more likely to be in rent arrears? In addition, did you know that victims of domestic abuse are more likely to have complaints made against them?  Many initial complaints described as ‘noise’, ‘damage’ or ‘harassment’ actually turn out to be the manifestation of more deep-rooted domestic abuse issues. How many terminations are as a result of domestic abuse? Do we really know? The full facts certainly won’t be reflected in the official termination reasons as many victims choose to hide the real situation. What is the total repair costs as a result of domestic abuse? Again, do we really know?

So, at a basic level, dealing effectively with the issue of domestic abuse can result in positive income management indicators, less complaints, reduced turnover and reduced repairs costs.

Data analytics

Over the last few years at Gentoo we have further developed our approach in dealing with victims and their families. As part of this we have improved our approach to prevention and early intervention with data analytics playing a key role. As a result of this improved approach, the number of recorded tenancy breaches due to domestic abuse has doubled in the last three years. In reality, we know the level of actual domestic abuse is unlikely to have changed that much. However, because of our approach, an increasing number of tenants are reporting the issue. We think this is a good thing.

By tackling the issue of domestic violence and abuse, including working with perpetrators to treat the root cause, we can make a significant difference to people’s lives while also realising the business benefits that go with it.

Michelle Meldrum, director, Gentoo Operations