Abstract:
The research objective was to understand the performance of the Intersectoral Group for Reha-bilitation in Interpersonal Relationships (GRRI) of Juazeiro-BA, from 2016 to 2019, regarding preventing new forms of domestic violence. The creation of programs aimed at male perpetra-tors of domestic violence is an important public policy instrument, having been raised as a specific integrated measure for the prevention of gender-based violence provided for in the Maria da Penha Law. However, the literature shows that research and interventions in the work of providing care to male perpetrators of violence are still recent in Brazil, having shown real growth only in recent years, as in the city of Juazeiro, whose public policy began in 2016. The qualitative research was carried out through a case study, and semi-structured interviews with the management team and facilitators of the intervention, in addition to the documentary anal-ysis of procedural data from the Court of Justice of the State of Bahia, the Public Defender's Office of the State of Bahia and CREAS. It was found that the municipal Executive Branch of Juazeiro took the lead in implementing the GRRI. However, the demand for training, accessi-bility of quality materials, hiring an exclusive team of technicians and facilitators, expansion and specialization of psychosocial support sectors, and the need to monitor classes to assess effectiveness are some of the challenging issues in working with men who commit domestic and family violence against women in Juazeiro. The number of sessions adopted, the number of men participating in the session, the techniques used by the team, and the lack of gender heterogeneity among the team of technicians and facilitators showed a departure from what is recommended in the literature. A problem was also noted regarding the referrals of men made by the Judiciary Branch: the initiative only serves those who have at some point been arrested, failing to provide others with access to the benefits that the intervention can provide. Despite these difficulties, group work with male perpetrators of domestic violence in Juazeiro was able to reduce recidivism or the re-entry of domestic violence perpetrators into the system by com-mitting new crimes. It is hoped that this report on male recidivism after the participation of the GRRI and its recommendations will contribute to the creation of new strategies or guidelines that are more appropriate to the particularities of municipal public policy, hence the social rel-evance of this study.
