BEHAVIOUR CHANGE WITH AVOW

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We spoke to Lynette, our EP who has recently seen the application she was leading, Avow gain wide spread attention.

Digital tool/s: Mobile application that includes behavioural change techniques.

Q. What does Avow seek to change?

Avow is an application designed by us to help with the Department of Premier and Cabinet NSW’s goal to reduce re-offending rates of domestic violence perpetrators in NSW by 25% over the next two years (2018-19). 

Q. How is it going to do this?

It is designed to do three things:

1) Give Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) recipient’s clarity over their legal conditions and responsibilities.

2) Encourage users to attend court when they need to (we hope to address an 18% failure to attend rate).

3) Introduce behavioural change elements throughout the app that gives low to medium risk offenders the tools they need to understand their behaviour and stop the violence.

Q. How will this change behaviour?

Most funding in the space is reserved for victim services – and rightly so – however many frontline services in this field are recognising that resources also need to give more weight to stop the problem at the source. By focusing on changing the behaviour of the perpetrator, we offer new opportunities for intervening at the right moments and encouraging perpetrators to take responsibility for their behaviour and actions.

By nudging them towards desired positive behaviours, getting them to court appointments, understanding their ADVO obligations and providing them with tools to manage risks of breach (for which they may lose access to their families or go to prison). The ultimate goal is to stop the negative behaviour entirely and seek more comprehensive support through counselling or behaviour change groups. We are not trying to provide in-app Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – the audience is too complex for that. What we are trying to do is introduce the notion that there is support available for stopping this behaviour.

Many perpetrators come into the system with a victim mindset. Avow helps to break down the barriers by initially giving them the right information to be better informed about their ADVO obligations, and only then introduce the behaviour change elements.

We remind users of the app that violence is a choice by setting them small steps that help toward making them achieve significant (very serious) goals - we know that many offenders would not act violently toward a colleague (for example) yet may toward a partner, their children, or even a parent or sibling. So, we help them recognise triggers and put steps in place to stop these. The identified behaviour might be ‘I know that when I go to the pub on a Friday night, I sometimes become violent afterwards at home’ or ‘when I’m stressed at work I become aggressive at home’. Small steps set by the perpetrator could be ‘I will stay with my friend if I go to the pub on Friday’, or ‘I will take 10 minutes in the car doing a light meditation before I head into the house'. These lead to big goals - i.e. ‘not going to prison', ‘becoming a good example to my kids', and the critical outcome will ultimately be rooted in victim safety.

Q. How will it be distributed?

We have partnered with the Department of Premier & Cabinet's Behavioural Insights Team and NSW Police to conduct a pilot trial in the Quakers Hills and Nepean PACs to get the app in the hands of people in need immediately. Upon issuance of a provisional or interim ADVO’s, the app will be shared with offenders and monitoring of uptake and reoffending rates will be in place. The trial is due to start in the next few weeks and will run for approximately one year. In conjunction with this we will also give them the contacts they need: men's change groups and psychologists.

Q. Who are you working with the project on?

Various departments at the NSW Government, the police force and the Men’s Behaviour Change Network NSW. All of whom have been massively supportive and keen to try this new method moving forward where we focus on giving perpetrators the tools to change behaviour. I applaud their positioning, as it will ultimately mean we have fewer victims and may even save a few lives.

Q. What is your vision for the product?

Up until late last year, an ADVO was only recognised by NSW, but now they are recognised federally cross-state. The app at the moment is just configured for NSW, but I see an opportunity to have it configurable for every state. We have also had enquiries from other countries who have been interested in what we are doing in this space and it could be configurable for their countries too.