Group treatments for men who abuse their female partners are relatively recent phenomena. These groups were developed with the encouragement of the battered women's movement, and in the mid- to late-1970s, were seen by advocates as a crucial component in the reduction of violence toward women. In the 1980s, batterer treatment groups often became a mandatory consequence of criminal prosecution, treatment groups proliferated, and their effectiveness was questioned. In the 1990s, the value, form, and success rates of these groups came under scrutiny. This article includes a historical perspective of batterers' intervention programs, a description of the Alternatives to Violence program, and the experiences, perceptions, and opinions of its founder.
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