There are several privately operated domestic violence programs in San Francisco including Manalive and Men Overcoming Violence, MOVE. As their names suggest, the most people running programs consider domestic violence a male problem. Some experts on domestic violence are of the opinion that batterer’s programs are no help at all. Some of my clients say they have gotten a lot out of their classes. Others have conflicts with self-righteous program directors and counselors. Guess who gets in trouble with the judge when the program has a problem with one of their participants.

The defendants pay for the mandatory classes and the court gets progress reports and monitors a defendant’s participation, at first with appearances a week or two apart, and then monthly. Defendants who are mentally unstable are sent to the Center for Special Problems. These programs are confrontational and run a tight ship. If you miss meetings, don’t get to the meetings on time, or don’t participate to the counselor’s satisfaction in Group, you can get dropped from the program. The judge might re-refer you, or order you to attend classes in jail. The Sheriff’s Department has a program through the Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP) where people on probation can take classes if they are eligible.

Batterer’s programs can be a shock at first. After a while you may warm up to them. Even if you don’t agree with your counselors or the other individuals who have been ordered to attend the classes, it is best to exhibit a tolerant and open attitude, and be willing to participate cheerfully in the discussions. The counselor fills out a report form for each of your court progress report appearances and an unfavorable report will result in admonishments from the judge. Make sure you arrive early for your classes, make at least some payments towards the class fees, and don’t miss any classes. Tardiness, absences, and not making an effort to pay the class fees result in unfavorable progress reports and the judge will not be pleased with you.

After conviction the first few times a defendant goes to court for a progress report the judge may ask them how they are doing in the batter’s program. If you are ordered to attend batterer’s counseling as a condition of your pretrial release you should under no circumstances discuss the facts of your case or admit to the counselor that you are guilty. The group leader may well inform the prosecution in spite of the patient/client privilege.