One could almost hear a figurative sigh of relief when news filtered into the 16th annual Domestic Violence Council Conference in Santa Clara last Friday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had restored $16.3 million in funding for domestic-violence shelters the day before.

Attendees were hundreds of people who work directly with victims of domestic violence -- social workers, lawyers, judges, therapists.

Although deaths from domestic violence in Santa Clara County dropped to three in 2008 (two in San Jose, one in Mountain View), 10 people have died in 2009.

More than 5,000 cases of domestic violence are reported every year in the county, according to Rolanda Pierre-Dixon, assistant district attorney. That's about 100 cases every week for non-deadly domestic violence, ranging from pushing and shoving to causing injury.

Many abusers are required to attend domestic-violence classes two hours a week for a full year. Missing more than three sessions is a violation of probation, causing the abuser to possibly face up to a year in jail instead of class.

Research shows that counseling is most effective in a group setting, according to David Duran, director of the Positive Solutions Program at Family and Children Services, located in Palo Alto and San Jose.

Group members help keep each other accountable and make healthy behaviors the norm, he said.

Abusive patterns are learned early in life, Duran said.

"This is the same behavior they saw from their fathers and older brothers. This is 'appropriate,'" he said, adding that many abusers feel their pattern of jealousy and possessiveness is justified.

Counseling gets to the root of the problem, said Pierre-Dixon, who has been working on the issue for 24 years. It deals with the abuser's background and belief system that says battering is OK, and it teaches techniques for controlling and "unlearning" behavior. It demonstrates a different way to be in a relationship -- without abuse.

There are no precise statistics on results of programs yet, but Pierre-Dixon said about two-thirds of the less-severe abusers won't be seen in court again.

"But the hard-core one-third will be back," she said. About half of the felony batterers will also return to court, she said.

One panel at last week's conference looked at the impact of a bad economy on domestic violence.

"These are times of high stress," panel moderator Pierre-Dixon said.

"Unemployment is a big problem. It increases levels of aggressiveness, with job strain and financial stress a major contributor to domestic violence," said Steve Baron, former director of Santa Clara County Family Court Services.

He cited a dramatic decrease in fatalities in partner violence between 1992 and 2005 but anticipated that the latest research, due out in two years, will show either a slowed decrease or possible increase.

"When stress goes up, domestic violence goes up," he said.

Judge Carol Overton, presiding judge in the Santa Clara County Criminal Domestic Violence Court, said the economy is an "inappropriate" excuse, with offenders tying their violent behavior to loss of a job rather than taking responsibility for their actions.

She said there is an urgent need for more advocates working on behalf of victims.

"When we look at domestic-violence related homicides, one of the common characteristics is under- or unemployment," said Frank Del Fiugo, chair of the Domestic Violence Council and co-director of A Turning Point, which works with batterers.

The problem is compounded because often clients and their families cannot afford to pay for the very counseling that would help.

"We teach that our beliefs equal our behaviors," he said, adding that if someone believes that there's no chance to find a job in a down economy he won't even try. "We look at where else he is not being accountable."

Judge Sharon Chatman, from Santa Clara County Family Court's Domestic Violence-specialized court, said the economy has impacted family court: She's seeing more brutal felony-level behavior, with the vast majority involving families with children below age 6, and she's seeing precipitating incidents -- loss of job or home -- that crank up the stress.

Chatman described a case where the male partner lost his job and tried to exert control not only through verbal abuse but by physical abuse, including hiding keys to prevent his wife from going to work.

"The good news is in family court we have tremendous resources, particularly where there are children," she said. Those resources include free legal representation to both victim and perpetrator.

"The victim feels isolated, has no choice, wants violence to stop but wants shelter, food," she said, noting that legal representation can also help victims obtain restraining orders.

"Restraining orders save lives. We only hear about the failures," not about who was saved, she said.

— Carol Blitzer