The Caledonian System — Scotland's Integrated Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme

The Caledonian System is a 'systems approach' to tackling domestic abuse in Scotland: a court-ordered, two-year Men's Programme of one-to-one and group sessions aimed at changing abusive attitudes and behaviour, run alongside a Women's Service offering safety planning and support to (ex-)partners, and a Children's Service addressing the needs of children affected by the abuse. By 2016, at least 941 men had started the Men's Programme and 598 women had taken up the parallel Women's Service.
Ipsos MORI Scotland was commissioned by Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services to evaluate the programme, combining monitoring-data analysis with interviews across 21 male participants, 19 women, 42 staff and 4 professional stakeholders. Caseworkers judged men who completed the programme to pose lower risk to partners, children and others by the end, and women reported feeling safer through safety planning and closer tracking of men's behaviour — but the evaluation was explicit that it could not conclusively quantify the programme's overall impact on reoffending, and completion-rate data varied considerably and unreliably across regional hubs.
The system is now delivered in 19 of Scotland's 32 local authorities, reaching roughly 75% of the population, as part of the Scottish Government's national 'Equally Safe' strategy on violence against women and girls, with the Caledonian central team at Community Justice Scotland overseeing training and further expansion.

Read the full analysis: https://www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk/news-and-media/spotlight-on-sentencing-blog/cjs-caledonian-system-blog