Behavior Intervention Prevention Program

La Casa strives to create lasting and positive change through the Behavior Intervention Prevention Program (BIPP)—a 52-week program for those with a history of partner abuse. All of these services help to mitigate the long-lasting effects that come with crisis, trauma, and poverty.

  •  Program participants understand acts of violence and abuse in relationships by learning the power and control wheel.
  •  Program participants increase their willingness to change abusive behavior through accountability and through recognition of the negative impact of abusive behaviors in relationships.
  •  Program participants understand how certain belief systems in our culture/society/upbringing/environment support the use of violence and aggression, particularly in men.
  •  Program staff provides practical information on tools and strategies to change abusive & controlling behaviors by exploring non-controlling and non-violent ways of relating to others.
  •  Program staff assists program participants in developing support systems and strategies to remain non-violent and increase awareness of the impact of abusive behavior.

La Casa, Inc.’s BIPP is accredited and is compliant with New Mexico State program standards and recommendations. We cross reference every referral against the 13 Domains of Domestic Violence. As a result, not all referrals are appropriate for B.I.P. services. In some cases, there is mutual combat. In others, the court has recommended couple counseling or anger management. We do not offer couples counseling or anger management. A few cases are simply aggression that do not meet the threshold of domestic violence.

Domestic Violence offenders are unique violent offenders requiring a specialized approach. Intimate partner violence is based on one person’s unrealistic and or unfair expectations or “rules” for his or her partner. This is compounded by a feeling of entitlement to punish or get revenge when the partner fails to meet these expectations.

Offenders do an excellent job of managing their anger when they choose to do so; for example: they manage their anger with their bosses or in a tense confrontation with someone in a bar. Offenders choose not to manage their anger with their intimate partners. Abuse is not a loss of control, but rather a failure to maintain control. Anger Management does NOT address the root cause of intimate partner violence which is the power and control one person exerts over another and/or the ‘perceived’ right to dominate another person. Anger Management fails to account for the premeditated controlling behavior associated with abuse. Intimate partner violence is often a series of behaviors inflicted on an intimate partner through direct and indirect controlling and degrading behaviors. It is not merely a series of impulsive, angry incidents. It is premeditated.

Referral Sources and Program Mandates for Court-Mandated Participants

  • Court-mandated participants are referred by the courts upon being convicted of “Battery against a Household Member”.
  • Participants are often placed on supervised probation.
  • Sentencing includes the satisfactory and successful completion of the 52-week B.I.P. program.
  • A few participants are referred once the abused partner files an order of protection.
  • Several referrals come from involvement with Child Protective Services.
  • Some referrals come directly from probation and parole officers’ recommendations.

Core Concepts of Intimate Partner Violence

  • A pattern of abusive behavior is not the result of provocation.
  • Intimate partner violence can be shaped and supported by societal, parental, and cultural norms.
  • Behaviors are often learned over time. They appear reactionary but are premeditated.