Introduction
David Morran, University of Stirling
This
conference came about as the result of a meeting held in
Edinburgh in August last year when a group of us got together to
compare experiences of working with male domestic violence and
to discuss how this was dealt with by various agencies within
the criminal justice system. Our group comprised activists
working with women survivors and academics involved in research
into domestic violence. Others of us were social workers who
worked directly with violent men in either of the two group work
programmes: CHANGE in the former Central Region, and the Lothian
Domestic Violence Programme (LDVP) which had been established in
Scotland in 1989 and 1990 respectively.
During
this meeting we reflected on the changes and improvements which
had taken place in police, court and social work responses to
male violence over the past several years; the Scottish Office
Guidance Notes for improving police responses issued in 1990;
the establishment of a number of multi-agency working parties,
the monitoring of responses within courts arising in part from
courts’ own willingness to examine their practice and in part
from external research. On the campaigning side, we noted also
the development of Zero Tolerance and the 1995 Scottish Office
poster and television campaign.
All of
these we agreed had been broadly positive. We were aware however
of the enormity of the task which confronted concerned
professionals who found themselves having to urge their
colleagues to re-examine their ideas, attitudes and beliefs
concerning domestic violence and to change their responses
accordingly. This was not something which was easily
accomplished. We were also concerned at the extent to which
agencies still seemed to find it to learn from good practice
which had already been developed, for the most part here in
Scotland, and to enter into a constructive dialogue in order to
bring about changes either in legislation or in practice.
As a
group we knew collectively of a number of positive examples of
the ways in which police, courts, fiscals and sentencers
perceived domestic violence and responded to it. We knew also of
substantial shifts in how social workers viewed this issue - no
longer was it seen as the woman’s problem as had once been
common practice. Instead violence, in its physical, sexual and
other forms had increasingly been recognised as abusive male
behaviour which in all cases merited sanction, and in some
cases, where appropriate, contact in the form of some social
work intervention.
This
progress we knew of while positive has at times been painful in
the making. As we have represented our different positions
within the various helping or criminal justice agencies we have
not always seen eye to eye on either the cause or the solution.
We have learned however to respect the complexity of the issue
we are tackling and we have learned to listen and to talk to one
another and to act together.
It is
to continue this task of listening, talking and acting with one
another that we are at this conference today.
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