Why shouldn’t domestic violence offenders just go to Anger Management?
• Forty-three (43) states have FVIP standards that differentiate FVIPs from anger management, substance abuse treatment, conflict resolution, and psychotherapy. • Anger management may be appropriate for the person who gets into a barfight or has road rage, but is rarely appropriate for someone who commits violence against an intimate partner or family member. • “The issue regarding domestic violence is power and control. The offender is likely to beat or abuse the victim whether or not he or she is angry.” -George Anderson, founder of Anderson & Anderson, the world’s largest provider of anger management counseling. • The federal Office of Violence Against Women now forbids using domestic violence grant money to place domestic violence offenders in anger management. • Treatment for violent or abusive parents “should always include treatment specifically targeting domestic violence, rather than more generic and often inappropriate and inadequate treatment for anger management, as well as
