Help-Seeking and Male Gender-Role Attitudes in Male Batterers

This study addressed how male gender-role variables were related to help seeking in male batterers prior to treatment and differences between self-referred and court-ordered batterers. Four questionnaires on help-seeking attitudes and male gender-role variables were given to 109 men that attended an information session before attending treatment. Results indicated that help-seeking attitudes were negatively correlated with feeling connected to all men through similarities. Self-referred men, compared with court-ordered men, were more likely to have higher help-seeking attitudes. In contrast, court-ordered men felt more connection to all men through similarities as compared with self-referred. The implications of help seeking and male gender-role attitudes for counseling batterers are discussed.