Do court and self-referred domestic violence offenders share the same characteristics? A preliminary comparison of motivation to change, locus of control and anger.

Objectives. The purpose of this research was to assess whether court- and self-referred domestic violence offenders differ on levels of motivation to change, personal control and anger, and hence whether these two offender groups are distinct.

Method. Thirty-eight court-referred and 14 self-referred male domestic violence offenders completed three scales: URICA-DV, Levenson Locus of Control and Novaco Anger Scale.

Results. It was found that self-referred men exhibited significantly higher levels of motivation to change, internal locus of control and anger in response to anger-provoking situations than did court-referred men.

Conclusions. The results indicate that there may be fundamental differences between these two offender groups and question the suitability of combining these groups in offender treatment. Results are discussed in the context of treatment efficacy and outcome.