Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women perpetrators of violence: a trial of a prison-based intervention (Beyond Violence)

Beyond Violence (BV) is an evidence-based intensive program developed specifically for female violent offenders to target co-morbid substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and women’s experiences and perpetration of violence. The BV treatment employs trauma theory as a basis for the intervention. A manualised intervention, BV is a tertiary prevention program which utilises a multi-level approach through a variety of evidence-based therapeutic strategies (i.e. psycho-education, role playing, mindfulness activities, cognitive-behavioural restructuring, and grounding skills for trauma triggers) to address issues of mental health, substance abuse, trauma histories, and anger regulation. BV is an intensive program run over 20 x 2 hour sessions, delivered face-to-face in prison in groups of 8-10 (INTERVENTION GROUP). The intervention is provided by two co-facilitators (one Aboriginal and one non-Aboriginal woman). Facilitators will record session attendance and make brief clinical notes. To measure satisfaction with treatment, at the end of each session, participants complete a survey to assess the helpfulness of session components and satisfaction levels. Recruitment to the intervention will occur through identification of potentially eligible participants from administrative databases of offenders, and self-referral (word-of-mouth, posters displayed in prison clinics). Allocation to the treatment group will occur on a first come basis. The CONTROL GROUP will comprise women who meet the inclusion criteria who may participate in other programs offered in the prison setting (i.e. ‘Treatment as usual’ (TAU)) but do not receive the intervention. To avoid contamination we will initially recruit controls over one year then, over the following year, recruit for and administer the intervention at the same sites.