Preliminary results suggest that the ARI measures tendencies to rationalize abusive behaviours and to project blame onto the spouse. The ARI may be useful in treatment programs to assess attitudes of batterers.
Family violence is a serious problem in our society.
The majority of the perpetrators of family violence are male batterers, many of whom are convicted and incarcerated in federal penitentiaries. The Correctional Service of Canada recognizes the reduction of family violence as a programming priority and encourages the provision of treatment services to inmates with a history of battering. Research suggests that violence against women is often associated with negative attitudes and beliefs toward women, rationalization of abusive behaviours, externalization of blame and a need to control and dominate in the relationship. The measures could then be used to identify candidates for treatment and to assess changes in attitudes and beliefs as a result of treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to develop a psychometric instrument to measure the attitudes of incarcerated male batterers.