Evaluation of the Caledonian System domestic abuse intervention (2016)
Ipsos's mixed method evaluation for the Scottish Government provided evidence on delivery and perceived impact to inform future programme development.
The Caledonian System is an innovative approach to addressing domestic abuse. It combines a programme for male offenders, aimed at changing their behaviour, with support services for women and children, all with the aim of reducing the risk of harm to women and children.
Our mixed method evaluation for the Scottish Government provided evidence on delivery and perceived impact to inform future programme development. Key findings, available in our full report and summary, include:
- Safety and risk: women reported feeling safer, both as a result of safety planning provided by the Women’s Service, and as a result of being better able to keep track of men’s behaviour because of their involvement with the Men’s programme. Men who completed the programme were judged by case workers as posing a lower risk to partners, children and others.
- Design and delivery: overall the Caledonian System is being delivered in line with its principles, but there are a number of areas for further reflection and/or improvement including: the role of the Children’s Worker; the potential need for more direct input from psychologists; updates to delivery manuals; enhanced training and learning opportunities; and discussion about the staffing structures that can best support delivery.
- Monitoring and future evaluation: although the evaluation provided evidence of positive perceived impacts, it was limited by the availability of robust and timely data on participation and completion. The report makes recommendations for strengthening and improving the usefulness of future monitoring data, as well as exploring the feasibility of a longer-term, more prospective evaluation.
