evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Partnerschaft ohne Gewalt (PoG) — Zurich's Court-Mandated Learning Programme for Domestic-Violence Perpetrators

Switzerland · Zürich · See the Switzerland profile · See the Zürich profile

Evidence: Quasi-experimental Top 10% 96/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2000, Zurich's probation service has run a court- and child-protection-ordered course for people who used violence in a partnership. Evaluations found 14% of completers reoffended versus 25% of non-completers, with gains confirmed again in 2025.

14%
Reconviction rate, programme completers
25%
Reconviction rate, non-completers
~1 in 20
Renewed police intervention within two years, completers
~1 in 6
Renewed police intervention within two years, non-completers
3,200 CHF
Cost per participant, group setting
1:6–7
Estimated cost-benefit ratio
Partnerschaft ohne Gewalt (PoG) — Zurich's Court-Mandated Learning Programme for Domestic-Violence Perpetrators

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Bewährungs- und Vollzugsdienste, Amt für Justizvollzug und Wiedereingliederung, Kanton Zürich (JuWe)
Period
2000–present
Keywords
criminal justice, probation, domestic violence, forensic psychology

Context

Partnerschaft ohne Gewalt (PoG) is a cognitive-behavioural learning programme run since 2000 by the probation and prison services of the Canton of Zurich's Office of Justice. Courts, prosecutors and the child-protection authority (KESB) refer people who have used violence or made threats within an existing or dissolved intimate partnership.

Activities

Participants work through their behaviour in group sessions and build concrete strategies to avoid reoffending. The canton has since extended the model, for example launching a parallel learning programme for sexual offenders in 2025, and trains facilitators from other cantons.

Results

An external evaluation by Treuthardt and Kröger (2019) found 14% of 128 completers were reconvicted, versus 25% of 64 non-completers. A further JuWe evaluation completed in July 2025 again found lower reoffending among people assigned to the programme, particularly those completing a clinically meaningful number of sessions.

Conclusions

Assignment to the programme follows judicial or child-protection referral rather than randomisation, so the completer/non-completer comparison is quasi-experimental and may be affected by selection, since people who complete a mandated programme may already differ from those who drop out.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — CHF 3,200 per participant in a group setting, up to CHF 4,100 individually; estimated cost-benefit ratio of roughly 1:6-7 once reduced reoffending and case costs are factored in.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
probation service caseworkers, group facilitators, forensic psychologists (external evaluators)

Conditions for success

  • structured referral pathway from courts, prosecutors and the child-protection authority (KESB)
  • trained facilitators delivering a cognitive-behavioural group curriculum
  • sustained institutional funding within the cantonal probation service

Common failure modes

  • selection bias between completers and drop-outs affects the observed comparison since referral is judicially mandated, not randomised

Where it fits

Governance type
cantonal justice/probation service
Scale
cantonal (Zurich)
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful