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Good practice Imported

Trening Socialnih Veščin — Slovenia's Nationwide Social Skills Training Programme for Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

Slovenia · Ljubljana · See the Slovenia profile · See the Ljubljana profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 59% 59/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Run by the Association for Nonviolent Communication since 2004, Slovenia's Social Skills Training gives perpetrators of domestic violence 24-session counselling in 9 cities, reaching 600 participants in 2018 — though its own evaluation stays limited.

600 people
Participants in the programme (2018)
9 cities
Cities where the programme runs (n/a)
24 sessions
Minimum sessions per participant (n/a)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Društvo za nenasilno komunikacijo (Association for Nonviolent Communication)
Period
1996–present (group programme since 2004)
Region (NUTS)
SI
Keywords
domestic violence prevention, perpetrator intervention, social work, criminal justice, family services

Context

The Association for Nonviolent Communication (Drustvo za nenasilno komunikacijo), Slovenia's first NGO to work with both victims and perpetrators of violence, began individual counselling for people who use violence in 1996 and launched a structured group programme -- Social Skills Training (TSV) -- in 2004.

Objectives

TSV combines a minimum of 24 group or individual sessions on responsibility-taking, anger management and non-violent communication, drawing on cognitive-behavioural, feminist and Duluth-model theory.

Activities

The programme now runs in nine Slovenian cities, with referrals coming mainly from courts, prosecutors, prisons, probation services, social work centres, schools and health services, though participation is formally voluntary; facilitators hold university degrees, complete a state professional exam, and are certified and supervised by the Social Chamber of Slovenia.

Results

600 people took part in the programme in 2018, and session length was extended from 12 to 24 meetings 'to achieve better effectiveness'.

Conclusions

The programme is externally evaluated by Slovenia's Social Protection Institute using questionnaires and short-term outcomes together with victim feedback, but the organisation itself states that 'evaluation of the programme is not yet sufficient' and that communication with victims across the referral network is inconsistent, a limitation a 2013 systematic review found typical of European perpetrator programmes generally.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No cost or resource-efficiency data is published for the programme.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Individual counselling since 1996; structured group programme (minimum 24 sessions) since 2004, now running in 9 cities.
Staffing & skills
Facilitators hold university degrees, complete a state professional exam, and are certified and supervised by the Social Chamber of Slovenia.

Conditions for success

  • Referral network spanning courts, prosecutors, prisons, probation services, social work centres, schools and health services.
  • Session length was extended from 12 to 24 meetings 'to achieve better effectiveness'.

Common failure modes

  • The organisation itself states that 'evaluation of the programme is not yet sufficient'.
  • Communication with victims across the referral network is inconsistent.
  • A 2013 systematic review (Akoensi et al.) found only a handful of European perpetrator programmes have been evaluated with a design rigorous enough to attribute outcomes to the intervention.

Where it fits

Governance type
NGO delivery under justice-system referral
Scale
national (9 cities)
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes CERV — Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values

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

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Data sources

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

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