Efficacy of the reGENER@r Program on Socio-Emotional Skills and Sexist Beliefs in Perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence: A Pilot Study in Spain.

BACKGROUND

Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most pronounced expressions of the unequal power relations between women and men. As a tool for action against this phenomenon, psychological intervention programs for perpetrators of GVB are offered. This is how reGENER@r was born; it is a two-month program based on psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral strategies that is part of the alternative measures to GBV-related prison sentences. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of the reGENER@r program on the variables of emotional intelligence, empathy, coping responses, emotional dependency, gender role conflict, and sexist beliefs.

METHOD

To this end, a sample of 37 subjects convicted of crimes of GBV was collected, and a pre- and post-evaluation by means of self-report was carried out. Changes were examined for statistical significance and clinical significance.

RESULTS

Significant improvements were observed in the variables of cognitive avoidance, emotional attention, hostile sexism, and distorted thoughts about women and the use of violence.

CONCLUSIONS

Limitations and implications of these findings are discussed, and some modifications are suggested such as making interventions longer, with a greater gender focus, adapted to the individual characteristics of the participants, and complemented with individual sessions.