By: Shapiro S.C.R. No. 5 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, In 1989 the 71st Legislature established the 1-2 Battering Intervention and Prevention Program project as part of 1-3 the community justice assistance division of the Texas Department 1-4 of Criminal Justice; the Battering Intervention and Prevention 1-5 Program project was Texas' first direct involvement in domestic 1-6 violence prevention through specialized programs to rehabilitate 1-7 perpetrators, and the project is a vital supplement to law 1-8 enforcement and the criminal justice system in responding to 1-9 domestic violence; and 1-10 WHEREAS, The development of specialized counseling and 1-11 rehabilitation for batterers was in response to victims' requests 1-12 for services for their abusive partners; their experience had shown 1-13 them that law enforcement and criminal justice intervention might 1-14 briefly end acts of violence but did not cause their partners to 1-15 change their abusive behavior; and 1-16 WHEREAS, Counselors who specialize in domestic violence 1-17 intervention and prevention believe that battering is primarily a 1-18 learned behavior and that the counselor must help the perpetrator 1-19 unlearn and change the battering behavior or the cycle of violence 1-20 will continue; and 1-21 WHEREAS, Studies of group programs for violent men ordered 1-22 into treatment show recidivism rates as low as four percent; other 1-23 studies found that between two-thirds and three-fourths of men who 2-1 completed voluntary programs remained nonviolent; now, therefore, 2-2 be it 2-3 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-4 hereby request and encourage local counseling services to develop 2-5 battering intervention and protection programs in response to the 2-6 studies documenting the success of such programs; and, be it 2-7 further 2-8 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be prepared and 2-9 forwarded to the community justice assistance division of the Texas 2-10 Department of Criminal Justice.