The reflexivity process to understand perpetrator’s experience of treatment under Codice Rosso

Article 16 of the Istanbul Convention provides for the need for recovery paths for perpetrators of violence against women. The Italian law 69/2019-Art.6 (Codice Rosso) provides for the conditional suspension of the sentence for perpetrators subject to participation in recovery courses. The qualitative research aimed to explore how perpetrators, under Codice Rosso treatment, represent the history of violence in which they are involved and the motivations that push them to adhere to the treatment. The participants were men undergoing treatment at the Oltre La Violenza service who took part in peer groups led by three psychotherapists. Fortnightly meetings lasting ninety minutes were scheduled. Each group was of maximum 8 participants. Eight group meetings were transcribed and analyzed following the Grounded Theory Methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). The reflexivity-based iterative process of coders (psychotherapists and researchers involved in research on domestic violence) was essential in approaching the textual material and reflecting on the process of denial that characterizes the perpetrators. The following macro-categories emerged: Self-referentiality, Perceived injustice; Representation of oneself as a naive partner, Representation of violence as an episodic event, Intolerability of separation, The role of families of origin in the process of violence; and Difficulty managing one's emotions. The implications and considerations of the first evidence of the application of the Codice Rosso regarding the methods of management and conduct of treatments for perpetrators of violence will be discusse