By The Star Staff
With the goal of reducing domestic violence cases in Puerto Rico, the island Justice Department presented recently a new mode of treatment to transform the conduct of domestic violence aggressors which has proven effective in other jurisdictions.
The method, called the Strengthen at Home program, is designed to prevent and put an end to domestic violence through a focus based on trauma.
The program addresses post-traumatic stress syndrome and the inadequate processing of information that has been found to compel many of the domestic violence aggressors who have experienced various kinds of trauma during their childhood and other situations that haven’t been attended to and can lead to violent behavior and the use of controlled substances.
An effectiveness study involving participants on probation showed that the proportion of couples that said they had suffered physical violence from their partner was reduced from 45% to 5.9% after participating in the program.
Similar results were observed in the use of controlled substances, including alcohol, opioids and others, which is associated with individuals with violent histories.
The Justice Department drafted a proposal for Puerto Rico adapted from current models of the program used stateside over the past 10 years.
The event was attended by prosecutors, judges, agents, technicians and professionals from various agencies, institutions and organizations.
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