Valutare per prevenire: la rilevazione del cambiamento negli autori di violenza tra procedure standard e indicatori qualitativi.

Concerning the effectiveness of perpetrator programmes, international literature shows am bivalent results due to evaluation design limitations, suggesting the need to combine research findings with operational knowledge from field practitioners. From this perspective, the pri ority must be to reflect on the concept of effectiveness itself and how it can be measured and evaluated. At the same time, it seems necessary to adopt a realistic perspective, taking into account the concrete ways in which data and information on the progress and results of the interventions are produced in the programmes. European standards emphasise the need to adopt a broader definition of success, including the well-being of victims and changes in perpetrators’ attitudes and behaviour. However, this is not always easy to establish in day-to day practice, precisely because of the limitations of the monitoring procedures adopted. On the basis of the studies carried out at national level, this paper analyses the dissemination of some of the main procedures used in the centres to monitor the intervention, looking in detail at some qualitative indicators that emerged from the interviews conducted with the operators. The analyses carried out are intended to stimulate reflection on the practicability of the different meanings of ‘success’ of the intervention, in the light of the actors’ situated knowledge and the ethical issues that have emerged in the recent national debate.