Perhaps the most tenacious belief about family violence is that arrest and swift incarceration are the most effective means of deterring future assaults in the home. This paper presents and examines three types of data in an attempt to examine this hypothesis critically. First, the finding of a content analysis of 19 studies on the effectiveness of spouse abuse treatment programs are used to create a stochastic background against which the effects of simple arrest and incarceration may be evaluated. Next, program evaluation and recidivism data are provided for 166 arrested spouse abuse who were court-ordered to attend a domestic violence counseling group called Batterers Anonymous. Finally, the recidivism rates of the arrested and treated spouse abusers are compared with those of 245 spouse abusers who were arrested only. By this means, an attempt is made to estimate the relative social value of rehabilitation for contemporary research And policy making.
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