Breaking the cycle of violence: Developing an intervention to address family violence and the risk of future violence

Background: Witnessing (intimate partner violence) and/or experiencing (child maltreatment) family violence as a child is a risk factor for future violence. Unless the “cycle of violence” is broken there will always be a generation of violent offspring to replace their violent parents. The paper describes a proof of concept study that explores the recruitment of a high-risk cohort, the development of an early years and parenting intervention, and future plans to implement a cohort study. Methods: The study involves close collaboration with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to develop the approach and intervention. In addition, the viability of accessing and linking relevant personal data is achieved through contact with relevant local authorities and governmental agencies. Outcomes: We report the activities necessary to develop a cohort of young offenders (males aged 16-21 years) from Polmont Young Offenders Institution and an age- sex-matched community group from Glasgow. We also describe the mechanisms to access and link personal records. Finally, details of an early years (child day care) and parenting (e.g. relationship advice, child care, social support) intervention will be presented. Discussion: To break the cycle of violence it is necessary to address violence in the current generation (e.g. young parents) and the next generation. By implementing a multi-component, early years and parenting intervention, there is potential to address family violence and the risk of future violence. This approach will be implemented and tested in a high-risk group in the future, through the use of a cohort study.