Evaluation of the Inner Strength Programme for Domestic Violence and Abuse, Blackpool 2021

The Inner Strength programme (IS) (Graham-Kevan and Wilks-Riley, 2011) was commissioned by Blackpool Social Care as part of Blackpool’s Domestic Abuse and Interpersonal Violence Strategy.

Inner Strength is a group-based, 26-session therapeutic intervention, delivered in community settings or in prison, for people who have perpetrated reactive violence and abuse. The programme is designed for men and for women who have been exposed to multiple trauma and compounded childhood adversity, who have perpetrated reactive domestic violence and abuse (DVA) towards an intimate partner and who may have also engaged in other forms of offending. The programme combines elements of dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) and mentalisation based therapy (MBT).

Justification for this evaluation:
This evaluation was commissioned by Blackpool Social Care with funding from the Home Office. To date, the programme has been delivered in seven cohorts comprising of 34 people (31 men and 3 women; women took part in a separate group). It is therefore a good point at which to assess the impact of the programme on primary outcomes domestic violence and abuse, general offending, and the safety of participants’ children. The evaluation also seeks to identify what aspects of the programme (content and structure) appear to have helped or hindered achievement of desired goals.