Family violence won’t stop unless the community holds batterers accountable and until batterers change their behaviors. Our Battering Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP) is specifically for family violence offenders and lasts for 18 weeks.

BIPP assists batterers to understand their behavior as a means of controlling their partner and focuses on educating the batterer on the nature of family violence, changing beliefs and attitudes that lead to violence, and reinforcing strategies to develop an equal and supportive relationship.

The underlying goal of the BIPP program is to enhance the safety of family violence victims and their children.  BIPP gives offenders tangible steps to ensure future non-violence and a group setting for practicing non-violent and non-abusive behavior.

BIPP provides a designated criminal justice response to family violence that is an economical alternative to incarceration and provides an extension of supervision for family violence offenders.

Family Services facilitates one of several BIPP programs across the state, is accredited through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and is monitored for quality by the Texas Council on Family Violence.

BIPP classes are available in Beaumont 2 nights a week. The fee for orientation is $60, which includes evaluation and orientation. The fee for each group session is $25. If you would like to enter the program, please call (409)833-2668 x104 for an appointment. No walk-ins please.

For others that struggle with anger and have an issue with isolated incidents of assault against persons with whom they do not have an intimate relationship, Family Services’ Anger Management classes are more appropriate.

Family Services offers both of these groups across Southeast Texas, and separate groups are provided for male and female offenders. Registration and attendance at an orientation is required. If you would like to participate in one of our groups, click “learn more” and fill out the form.  Someone will contact you shortly.

 We offer separate classes for men and women’s BIPP.

Difference between Men’s and Women’s Battering Intervention and Prevention Programs

Men’s

• Open group construction (a participant can join at any time)
• 18 group sessions in total
• Develops and enforces accountability throughout program to elicit belief system and mindset change
• Helps participants recognize that their belief system is fueling their actions
• Works to develop participants’ empathy towards victim and other past intimate partners
• Works to change negative mindset about intimate partner relationship by challenging male privileged centered thinking and beliefs
• Curriculum follows strict topics of discussion to facilitate positive lasting change
• Focuses on societal standards and how to change mindset to conform with more appropriate expectations
• Helps participants to recognize the power dynamics in their intimate partner relationship
• Uses logs for control and equality to help participants breakdown behaviors and feelings for themselves as well as behaviors and feelings for the victim
• Works to change entitlement mindset participants have about deserving control and power in intimate partner relationships
• Does not provided self-assessment for or specifically define types of domestic violence

Women’s

• Is a closed group construction (a new participant must wait to join until a new group class has been created)
• 19 groups in total
• Program is more individualized and has workbook for each participant
• Works to develop change in mindset for participants that feel justified about their actions
• Works to educate participants to understand victimology in intimate partner relationships
• Emphasizes the major role violence is playing in their intimate partner relationship
• Works to define difference between “self-defense” and “defense of self”
• Gives clear definitions about domestic violence and the different types
• Works to address retaliation violence/ abuse
• Works to challenge function of balance in intimate partner relationships
• Works to challenge belief that battered women must become fighters in intimate partner relationships
• Gives insight and perspective of the family/social hierarchy in each participant’s life
• Participants take a violence assessment at beginning and end of program to help them identify their violence type

Focus on how participants try to gain control over their situation without trying to change the power dynamic in their intimate partner relationship

Both BIPP programs work towards helping participants learn the following interventions:

• Requires participants to take accountability for incident from the intake session and throughout program
• Gain insight into violent and disrespectful behaviors through sharing personal incidents and beliefs
• Identifies not only anger, but actions fueled by other emotions which creates conflict in intimate partner relationships
• Brings victim “into the room” during every group to specifically address how their actions impacted the victim’s life including the language participants use to describe victim
• Provides a supportive environment where participants can share personal details while also being held accountable for their actions not just by facilitator but their fellow participants
• Does not allow participants to focus on external environmental triggers as a cause for their behaviors but rather pushes participants to identify where the permission for the aggression in the intimate partner relationship comes from
• Does not focus on how to use skills outside of intimate partner relationships although it may be beneficial
• Teaches nonviolent and respectful communication, conflict management, parenting, and partnership skills