An experimental outreach program offered shelter-based support groups
or phone counseling to battered women in the criminal and civil courts
. The outreach project attempted to contact 1,895 eligible women drawn
from the court dockets. Nearly 50% of these women could not be reache
d, another third refused services, and about a fifth Of the Women acce
pted either the shelter-based counseling or phone counseling. However,
only 19% (n = 71) of those who accepted service (or less than 4% of t
he total eligible women) actually participated in the service. The wom
en refused services primarily because they did not feel they needed th
em; they accepted service mainly to get help with their emotions. The
women who participated in the shelter-based counseling tended to be of
a higher social economic status than women who generally contacted th
e courts. The main problems for the women in phone counseling was recu
rring abuse from their partners and getting help for their children. T
he findings may suggest different types of battered women that warrant
different strategies to reach them. The outreach efforts might be fur
ther developed, as well, to more actively recruit and engage women in
general.