Section 1: The
Conference
The CHANGE Project came into
being in September 1989 following the committed work of a number
of individuals from Women’s Aid, the law, academic research and
social work whose efforts had been successful in securing Urban
Aid Funding through the sponsorship of Central Regional Council
Social Work Department.
The main aims of the Project
were to establish a criminal justice based Programme - the
CHANGE Programme - for men who had been violent to women, to
work with other agencies primarily Women's Aid, social work, and
courts to co-ordinate effective methods for tackling male
violence, and to develop training strategies and educational
materials for use by professional and voluntary agencies and
those in the wider community concerned with men's violence.
From the inception of the
Project CHANGE recognised that there was a widespread interest
in working with men. We were also aware that there was more
experience in this kind of work in North America than in the UK.
We were fortunate that we were able to draw upon the links
already made by representatives of the CHANGE steering group
with some North American programmes. Thus in 1990 we held two
conferences which featured speakers and workshop leaders from
established North American men's programmes.
Both these events attracted
interest from a wide range of agencies and delegates attended
from Britain and abroad.
However, as CHANGE has
developed we have become increasingly aware of the growth of a
variety of initiatives in both the statutory and voluntary
sectors aimed at tackling various aspects of domestic violence
within Britain. We felt CHANGE could benefit from more contact
with those involved. We wanted to learn from others and to share
our experiences of working in this area.
From 29 - 31 January 1992
therefore we held this conference, 'Responding to Domestic
Violence: Practice and Experience’, to offer an opportunity for
practitioners and those interested in establishing initiatives
to compare and evaluate different perspectives and methods of
working with perpetrators or victims of domestic violence, and
the issues these raise concerning future policy and practice.
That our interest was shared
by others working in this area was confirmed by the response we
received to the advance information about the conference. The
limited number of conference places was soon taken up and 110
participants attended. They came from a range of agencies and
organisations both statutory and voluntary. From the statutory
sector there were police, social workers, probation officers,
court officials, youth service workers, health workers, local
government members and officials; and from the voluntary sector
people from women's aid, men's groups, alcohol counselling
agencies and community projects. There were also participants
from co-ordinating bodies and academic researchers.
The conference comprised a
number of different events. During the two and a half days
participants were able to attend a short conference session, a
practitioners' panel, three workshops, video viewing sessions,
special interest groups, small working groups and a wrap-up
session.
The two agencies invited to
make presentations (Keighley Domestic Violence Forum and the
Metropolitan Police Domestic Violence Units) were asked on the
basis that they were known to us, although we are aware that
there are other forums and other police domestic violence units
in operation.
Similarly we invited three
organisations we already had contact with (Women's Aid, MOVE and
North Wales Probation Service) to present workshops which we
hoped would complement the conference presentations and reflect
the broad range of work being undertaken around the issue of
domestic violence.
The conference was opened by
the Chief Constable of Central Scotland Police, Mr William
Wilson who welcomed the coming together of people from such
diverse disciplines and perspectives to learn about each others'
work. Mr Wilson's opening remarks follow this conference
report.
The first session was a
conference style series of presentations. It began with an
introduction from Professor Rebecca Emerson Dobash from the
University of Wales, College of Cardiff. Professor Dobash set
the tone for the conference in her address in which she talked
of ‘the dream of change’. Referring to the battered women’s
movement which demonstrates how pragmatic action can lead to
political action and radical renewal, she charged everyone to be
alert to the recognition of real change as opposed to the
illusion of change, and to distinguish what is possible from
what is not.
Helen Attewell, Co-ordinator
of the Keighley Domestic Violence Forum, then spoke of the aims
and experience of developing a domestic violence forum. The main
aim of the forum is to bring different statutory and voluntary
agencies together to improve services for survivors of violence,
raise awareness of the issue, and to plug any gaps in provision
by developing new services. In this way the Forum is attempting
to create an integrated approach to tackling the problem of
violence in the home.
The conference then heard from
Sergeant Collette Paul of the Metropolitan Police who spoke
about why and how the first Police Domestic Violence Units were
set up and how they operate in practice.
The second session consisted
of a practitioners' panel when the four agencies who would be
undertaking workshops over that afternoon and the following day
were each given the opportunity to make a short presentation
about their agency and its perspective and work: themes which
would be developed and explored in the individual workshops. The
agencies were Women's Aid, CHANGE, MOVE, and North Wales
Probation Service.
Women's Aid spoke of their
perspective and experience of working with abused women and
their children and their view on working with violent men.
CHANGE gave an outline of its approach to working with men in a
criminal justice context. MOVE spoke of the work undertaken
with men who come to their men's programme on a voluntary
basis. North Wales Probation Service outlined the more general
work undertaken by them in working with violent offenders in the
community.
Each of these organisations
ran two two-hour workshops over the next day and a half. These
were organised to permit conference participants to attend three
out of the four different workshops on offer, and to allow
workshop leaders to attend each others' sessions.
We were aware that, given the
range of organisations which were represented at the conference,
the event had brought together people working in the same
general area of domestic violence but whose perspectives,
priorities and working practices were not necessarily in
agreement with each other. We were also aware that different
groups brought different agendas with them and we both expected
and received mixed reactions to the conference content and
style.
We hoped that this event would
be an opportunity for this diversity to be examined in a
positive manner and that there would be a constructive exchange
of viewpoints and experiences. We hoped to achieve some progress
towards the development of a network for policy makers and
practitioners whereby mutually agreed principles might inform
the development of all of us working with the common goal of
eliminating domestic violence.
As might be expected from such
a gathering, as the conference progressed various areas of
conflict came to the surface and emotions sometimes ran high.
Feedback from participants demonstrated the opposing views
present. Some expressed a criticism that the event was too
organised leaving little space for participants to set the
agenda. They felt frustrated and over-controlled. Others felt
it had been left too open and would have welcomed more
organisation of, for example, the special interest groups. Some
felt the workshops were too presentational in style, others
expressed satisfaction with this format.
On the final morning, in
response to the expressed desire of participants, it was agreed
that we depart from the planned programme and instead of a
session of workshop feedbacks, we broke into small groups to
discuss issues, values, principles of good practice and
proposals for future working together. This proved a productive
decision and the wrap-up session where the main points from the
small groups were presented and discussed indicate that despite
differences, there is an acknowledgement from all parties that
we stand to gain more from co-operation than dissent. There
appears to be a willingness to work towards developing shared
principles for good practice.
The main proposals emerging
from the conference were:
- A resolution by all
organisations and agencies to work jointly to tackle domestic
violence by agreeing common aims and accountability
- The development of
local and national networking which should work towards an
agreed set of principles.
- A central information
bank to facilitate the exchange of
ideas
- The setting up of more
Police Domestic Violence Units
Presenters and workshop
leaders were invited to submit written contributions for this
report and Section 2 contains a collation of those
received. Section 3 contains conference and workshop
feedback in more detail.
Opening Remarks
Mr William Wilson,
Chief Constable, Central Scotland Police.
As Chief Constable of Central
Scotland Police it is indeed an honour and privilege to be given
the opportunity to welcome you formally here today. An occasion
which for me personally marks a milestone in the development of
a corporate strategy to challenge and address the crime that is
domestic violence.
The terror and hurt caused by
domestic violence in relationships and families across our
nation is a serious issue and one which can only be tackled
credibly by those working in the field pooling their resources,
exchanging academic and practical experiences and going forth in
a working partnership.
The next few days I hope will
provide that opportunity for you, and I urge each and every one
of you to take the opportunity to contribute from your own
experiences and also to listen and share with others.
Domestic violence, as we know
all too well, is a complex and sometimes exceedingly difficult
subject to challenge, and that is clearly identified by the wide
and varied backgrounds of the delegates in attendance today.
You have here representation
from my own profession, who play an important and crucial role
alongside practitioners from Social Work, Conciliation Services,
Women's Aid, Probation Service, family workers, those involved
with men, women and children, and a host of others.
The CHANGE Project, which I as
Chief Constable readily support, is but one example of the
challenge that is being presented here in my own Force area, and
I welcome their willingness to host this conference.
Ladies and gentlemen may I
wish each and every one of you a pleasant stay here in Central
Scotland and a successful conference.
Introduction
Professor Rebecca
Emerson Dobash
Professor Dobash set the tone
for the conference in her address in which she talked of 'the
dream of change'. Referring to the experiences of those women
who worked for changes in the response to the problem of
domestic violence, she charged everyone to be alert to the
recognition of real change as opposed to the illusion of change,
and to distinguish what is possible from what is not.
In discussions over the next
two days she suggested participants question each of the
initiatives they were here to learn about by posing the
following questions:
Does this change
contradict the status quo?
Does it stand apart?
Does it compete?
Will those in power
listen?
Can we get it on the
agenda?
Will it work?
If the changes we all seek in
common to eradicate domestic violence from our society are to
come about, initiatives should be able to answer 'yes' to all
these questions. In this way we should be able to take 'the
dream' forward.
Section 2: Conference
Papers
Paper 1
Developing Keighley Domestic Violence Forum
Helen Attewell
Introduction
The
main aim of Keighley Domestic Violence Forum is to bring
different statutory and voluntary agencies together to improve
services for survivors of violence, raise awareness of the
issue, and to plug any gaps in provision by developing new
services. In this way we are attempting to create an integrated
approach to tackling the problem of violence in the home.
Our success has been partly
due to Keighley being a relatively small, well-defined area, but
can mostly be attributed to the involvement and commitment of a
wide range of local agencies, from Police, Social Services,
Health Visitors, Probation etc., to Women's Aid, youth groups
and community centres.
Setting
up the Forum
The current polices and
practices of the Forum have evolved over a period of several
years of information gathering, numerous meetings to identify
needs and discussions as to how we are going to achieve our
objectives.
In 1988 research was
conducted in the Braithwaite area of Keighley which identified
domestic violence as a major local issue which was not
adequately being addressed. Indeed, as in most areas of
Britain, woman abuse was found to be endemic, and accepted as a
'normal' part of family life. This finding prompted a group of
activists including Women's Aid, and Braithwaite Community
Project to initiate the Keighley Domestic Violence Forum as an
inter-agency lobbying group.
The first task the Forum
undertook was to conduct a survey of 190 agencies and interested
individuals to determine the scale of local need. This was not
conclusive, but the consensus of opinion seemed to be 'yes,
there is a problem', 'yes, something should be done about it',
but 'no, we don't have the resources to take on any more
responsibilities'.
Major concerns were:
1. Lack of reporting to
the police and other agencies
2. Need to improve
co-ordination of existing services to increase support for
women and children
3. Need to investigate
services to deal directly with violent men to break the chain of
violence
In order to find out more
information about other groups and projects working on these
issues and to develop a local strategy, the Forum hosted a
national conference in October 1989. The aim was to learn from
others' experience in a similar way to this CHANGE conference
and prioritise work for the future. It was also an opportunity
to publicise the issue of domestic violence in the local media
and encourage participation in the Forum from a wider range of
groups and organisations.
The success of the conference
assisted the Forum in obtaining funds from Bradford Safer Cities
Project (i.e. the Home Office money for crime prevention) to
employ a part-time Co-ordinator from February 1991.
Work
in Progress
Having identified the key
issues for the Forum - i.e. interagency co-operation, awareness
raising, support services for women and children and work with
violent men - the next stage was to set up working parties of
interested agencies and individuals to develop a plan of action
to put our ideas into practice.
Interagency
The
interagency approach is of course key to all our work and we
still have regular Forum meetings which provide an opportunity
for information sharing, creating links between organisations,
networking to facilitate referrals, with the aim of providing a
cohesive range of services for abused women and their children.
As an umbrella organisation representing the views of many
different groups, we are able to lobby for more services and for
changes in social policy more effectively than as isolated
individuals.
In order to create a wider
awareness of the issue and to increase the sensitivity of
workers dealing directly with abused women, we have run a number
of interagency training days as well as training sessions for
individual agencies. Although we would prefer organisations to
attend the interagency days so they gain an understanding of
each others' roles, we recognise that those attending these days
are often the committed few who already have a lot of knowledge
and experience. We were therefore particularly pleased to get
involved with the Police's Equal Opportunities training sessions
which will eventually reach all members of the local force.
From the wider Forum a number
of different interest groups have been established including
the Women's Support Group, the Asian Women's Group, the Worth
Project which works with violent men and a group looking at
preventative work with young people in schools and youth clubs.
Women's Support Group
The
first group to be set up was the Women's Support Group, which is
a self-help group for women survivors of domestic violence. All
women are welcome whether they are still living with a violent
partner or have left home and are resident at Women's Aid, or
have moved on to a new home but still feel isolated and in need
of support. The group is a very informal means of offering
advice and counselling or just social space for women to meet
and exchange experiences and plans for the future. Women become
stronger and more self-reliant through helping others, for
example, in planning to leave a violent relationship, or
providing support at a Court hearing. The women have also
helped develop publicity about the group in the form of posters,
leaflets, cards and stickers. They have been interviewed for
newspapers and radio programmes and are currently involved in
making a video about their experiences.
There is always a lively
creche on offer at the group but we do not feel that we are
adequately addressing the needs of children. One of our plans
for the future is to provide more counselling for children who
are emotionally disturbed and more support for mums who are
having difficulties with their kids' behaviour. We did manage
to organise a break for the women and children at the Women's
Holiday Centre last year and hope to plan more trips in 1992.
Asian
Women's Group
Keighley has a sizeable Asian
population originating from the Mirpuri region of Pakistan and
Sylhet in Bangladesh. People from these areas were attracted to
Keighley in the 50s and 60s by employment in the textile mills
and engineering firms. There is now widespread unemployment in
both black and white communities.
A short research project in
June and July (1991) identified the urgent need to expand the
project to cater specifically for Asian women's needs for
advice, counselling and support. Asian women facing violence in
the home have particular difficulties especially if the are
unable to speak English. There is a lot of mistrust and fear of
statutory agencies, a lack of knowledge of their legal rights, a
confusion about residency rights and a fear of deportation if
they leave their husband. The greatest fear is that they may
face being ostracised by family and friends if they take any
action, since this may be perceived as sullying the family
honour.
Although there is no new
provision for Asian women established as yet, an Asian Women's
Group has been meeting regularly since June last year, so at
least there is some co-ordination between existing services,
e.g. health visitors, community workers, interpreters etc.
We are currently fundraising
to employ two outreach/support workers who would be able to
provide advice and counselling for women and who would also do
preventative work with men and boys from the Asian community.
Violent
Men's Group
The men's group is locally
known as the Worth Project reflecting its location in the Worth
Valley and also recognising that lack of feelings of self-worth
is often one of the contributory factors in domestic violence
situations.
Estate-based community
workers had observed a disturbing trend for violent men to move
in with one family, abuse their partner, traumatise the children
and then, with few sanctions other than a derisory fine or
suspended sentence to condemn their actions, simply to move on
to a new family to repeat their violent behaviour in another
household. It became clear that supporting the woman,
increasing arrest rates, advocating injunctions etc, although
all vitally important, were not tackling the root of the
problem, men's sexist assumptions and their violent behaviour.
The Worth Project evolved
from many months of reading and research, meeting with different
practitioners in the field and discussions and debates within
the planning group. The actual programme of activities was
devised by the group facilitators largely based on their own
professional experience with ideas gleaned from a number of
sources.
Our service is currently
based entirely on self-referrals. Not surprisingly we are
generally contacted at a time of crisis when the woman has just
left or obtained an injunction or the police have been involved
for the first time. In the future we hope that men will be
instructed to attend our sessions as a condition of probation in
a similar way to the CHANGE Project.
When men first contact us
they are met by a volunteer from the project at a neutral
venue. This gives us a chance to communicate our expectations
about the men's commitment to the group and answer any questions
about the way it is run. Often there is an outpouring of
pent-up emotion which has never been expressed verbally before.
At this stage anyone whose main presenting problem seems to be
rooted in something else, e.g. drugs/alcohol, will be referred
on to the appropriate agency.
Details of the man's partner
are also obtained (if known), so that we can invite her to join
the Women's Support Group.
The group is run by three
facilitators, a woman and a man leading the group and another
woman acting as an observer to support the lone woman and
supervise the group leaders.
The group activities are
discussion-based, focussing on changing attitudes as a basis for
changing behaviour. The group situation enables men to
challenge each other, learn from each other, and most
importantly, gain strength from each other in their struggle to
change.
The men in the group
represent a wide cross-section of society from business owners
to long-term unemployed. Some have attended regularly, others
have turned up on a one-off basis. Since the group started
meeting in October there are still many unresolved questions:
how do we induct new men to an established group; what is the
optimum timescale of involvement; what kind of follow-up can we
offer; how do we develop our links with the probation service;
will our method of working still be valid when confronting
unwilling participants; will we achieve any long-term success?
We are still very much at an experimental stage and for this
reason we particularly value the opportunity to meet other
practitioners at a gathering like this, and hope that some kind
of national network can be established for the future.
Schools
and Youth Clubs
The last area of work we
would like to develop further is work with young people in
schools and youth clubs. We recognise that as a 'preventative
measure' it is essential to challenge children's gender
stereotypes and attitudes towards violence from as young an age
as possible.
We have run a series of
training courses for teachers which looked at how they might
identify children whose emotional/behavioural problems stemmed
from violence in the home, and how they might be supported at
school. We also explored activities which could be introduced
into the curriculum to challenge sexism and encourage verbal
expression of feelings. In addition, one of the workers from a
local Youth Centre has established a pilot Young Men's Group
which, whilst not exclusively aimed at offenders, tackles many
of the issues dealt with by the Worth Project.
Initially the group's
popularity seemed to stem from a reaction to the widely resented
'girls only' night, established a few months previously. The
young men have shown a genuine interest in the issues discussed,
however, and have remained committed to attending in spite of a
vociferous campaign to boycott it from several individuals who
find it very threatening to their macho image.
This is the type of work
which we would like to see extended throughout the area and
adopted as a model of good practice for youth work.
To sum up, the Keighley
Domestic Violence Forum is seeking to influence social policy by
challenging organisations in a positive way and involving them
in the work of the Forum. We see this integrated approach to
tackling violence in the home as the way forward for agencies
throughout Britain.
Paper 2 The
Women's Aid Context
Women’s Aid
Here we outline the Women's
Aid philosophy which is derived from the experience of abused
women and their children, and how both philosophy and experience
direct our practice.
Globally the pattern of
domestic violence is that it is overwhelmingly men who abuse
women and children. Gender based social inequality is the only
explanation to fit the experience of all the women who contact
Women's Aid for help. Therefore we are certain of the need for
radical social change if domestic violence is eventually to be
eradicated.
This understanding implies
that abused women and violent men are not somehow identifiably
different from others in the society in which they live, or from
us, the 'practitioners in domestic violence'. There will be
both in any audience or group of any size.
Twenty years of hearing and
understanding women's experience has shown us:
the
effects of abuse:
- denying women freedom
and safety
- disempowering and
disabling women
- isolating women and
damaging their self-esteem
- leaving women fearful,
uncertain and immobilised
This awareness has led us to
a philosophy which encompasses:
self
determination
- we offer women and
their children a safe place to stay where they can have space
and support to consider their options
- we work to offer women
choices and information
- we work to empower
women to make choices
- we try to ensure we do
not have or encourage any working practice which eliminates or
restricts women's right to choose or her choices
- we recognise that
escaping violence is a process, not an event, and may take
years, and several attempts; therefore a woman must be enabled
to choose a life free from violence at her own pace (it cannot
be successful if forced upon her)
- we build on our
knowledge that it was necessary for women themselves to work
together to provide a means for women to escape violence in the
home - the state and/or society did not provide appropriate help
consistently
self
help:
- we work to ensure that
the voice of abused women is incorporated into everything that
we do
- we work to encourage
abused women to become involved throughout the organisation
- we recognise that any
woman can be abused, therefore any man could be abusive
- we are a woman only
organisation
- we work to provide
opportunities for sharing experiences, and mutual support,
recognising the value of doing do for women who have become
isolated as a result of abuse
- we campaign for
services and mutual interests not recognised or provided by
others
ways
of working:
- we work and organise
to overturn power structures
- we promote non-sexist,
non-racist, non-violent, non-competitive ways of working
- we demonstrate that a
positive alternative to the oppressive conditions women live
under is possible and achievable
- we work to enable
women to take part in all aspects of the work, and to take
decisions readily
- we work collectively
- we recognise and work
to overcome the difficulties which arise from the subordinate
position of women in society
It is useful here to be aware
of the development of Women's Aid in Scotland.
herstory
of SWA:
- 20 years on from very
small beginnings filling a vacuum in provision for abused women
and their children through a user-defined service
- a unique social
movement offering direct urgent practical help as well as a
movement for change in society aimed at long term eradication of
the problem while applying the principles of the required change
throughout the movement itself
- some notable
achievements - the growth of the movement and its provision -
legislative improvements and policy statements - some good and
well founded practice integrated into the work of many agencies
- some recognition that the voices of abused women and their
children need to be heard
- but still too many
gaps, in refuge provision, in rural areas, in follow-up work, in
provision for children, in legal support, in educating for the
future, etc etc
etc
current provision:
- 17,257 women seeking help
(nearly 50 every day, numbers increase significantly every year)
- only 254 refuge spaces
(compare this with the recommendations of the Parliamentary
Select Committee on Violence in the Family (1976), who
recommended 500 spaces, and COSLA (1991), who recommended 735
spaces)
- 3,898 women turned
away to less suitable options (this number also increases
yearly)
- these figures
represent the tip of the iceberg because, for example, women do
not usually contact after the first violent incident
- we offer information,
support and refuge
- our support includes
follow-up work after the refuge, and as women request
Therefore, Women's Aid work
encapsulates these principles:
• prioritising the
safety of women and children
• empowering women
• working to enforce
women's right to a life free from violence for herself and for
her children
• working to increase
the choices open to women in society
• thus working to change
the nature of relationships between women and men
These principles embody the
crucial aspects of social change emphasised within Women's Aid
work, but......
Women's
Aid and Work with Violent Men
How does work with violent
men fit into the Women's Aid context?
Women's Aid recognises that,
if there is to be a wider movement for social change, it is
necessary for someone to address the question of what is
to be done about the men - if men are to be enabled to take
responsibility for their violence and play their rightful part
in ending it. Therefore CHANGE is an experiment Scottish Women's
Aid has agreed to participate in.
We do have some misgivings
about all work with violent men, and in particular about whether
that someone should be an organisation working for abused
women and their children.
Our philosophy will not allow
us to accept any project/programme which:
- is not founded on the
premise that the man is fully, solely and unequivocally
responsible for his violence, and for stopping it, and thus
completely rejects any form of victim-blaming or prescription
for the woman's future behaviour
- does not help a
violent man to understand how he has come to learn that his
violent behaviour is an effective tool which he chooses to use
to reach a position which he has also learned is acceptable, and
must now learn is not
- does not ensure that
their work is adequately responsive to the needs and views of
abused women themselves
- does not recognise
that it must take action to ensure resources for safety for
women if it is to be credible (consider the local situation of
Falkirk Women's Aid to that of the CHANGE Project)
- allows or encourages
the decriminalisation of violent assaults against women because
they are committed by men with whom they do or have lived
Even when programmes do meet
all the above requirements, there are some other concerns to
raise on behalf of abused women and their children:
- the existence of a
programme means increased danger for women, both for the
individual women whose partners are on the programme, and also
for abused women generally because public complacency can arise
and be reinforced because society seems to be dealing with the
problem
- difficulty of ensuring
the safety of women while monitoring the effectiveness
- the possibility that
any men's programme will have the effect of decriminalising
domestic violence - even if only because of the very small
numbers of men who ever get into the criminal justice system in
the first place
- there may be
competition for resources for domestic violence work between
men's programmes and Women's Aid
- the role of
non-criminal justice based programmes - what are the messages
given to women, men and to society at large ?
- the possible use of
men's programmes within diversion schemes
- ambivalent responses
from authorities/agencies equate with abusers' denial
- what is our role, how
do we feed in without diverting the resources which are for
women ?
- professionalisation of
services for abusive men may:
(a) limit the
programme's ability to take direction from abused
women
(b) lead to
greater recognition of them as a response to domestic
violence,
and therefore divert attention and resources away
from work
for women, and/or
(c) detract
from positive perceptions of the decisively non-
professional approach taken deliberately by Women's Aid
- the message given to
women and men and society at large by the proliferation of
programmes, or the swelling interest in men's programmes, when
there isn't even any evidence to show they work.
Thus Women's Aid
participation is itself an experiment inside another
experiment/pilot. We do adhere to the ideal that basic social
change requires that men must give up advantage and share the
power that belongs equally to women and men. We cannot yet know
if programmes like these will bring about the necessary life
changes for men, as the work of Women's Aid has done for women.
We remain ambivalent about the potential for success without the
deep-rooted structural change in society which will enable equal
relationships across the gender divide.
Undoubtedly the seeds of
change have been planted, but we still have to see if they can
flourish.
Paper 3 CHANGE
David Morran
and Monica Wilson
Background and Aims
The CHANGE Project came into
being in September 1989 following the committed work of a number
of individuals from Women’s Aid, the law, academic research and
social work whose efforts had been successful in securing Urban
Aid Funding through the sponsorship of Central Regional Council
Social Work Department.
The main aims of the Project
were to establish a criminal justice based Programme - the
CHANGE Programme - for men who had been violent to women, to
work with other agencies primarily Women's Aid, social work, and
courts to co-ordinate effective methods for tackling male
violence, and to develop training strategies and educational
materials for use by professional and voluntary agencies and
those in the wider community concerned with men's violence.
The Need For a Programme to
Confront Men's Violence
The need to develop a service
which dealt directly with men who were violent to women came
about largely as a response to the frustration and anger felt by
all those agencies whose work brought them into contact with
domestic violence.
For Women's Aid and for social
workers, concerned for the victim of the violence, or obliged by
statute to address the safety of children in the home, there was
the acknowledgement that women might be living with or returning
to violent men whose behaviour remained unchecked and
unchallenged.
For sentencers dealing with
those men whose violent offences actually came before the courts
there existed the apparently limited and unsatisfactory options
available when dealing with men. A fine on the man would fine
the family. Imprisonment might provide the valuable service of
temporarily providing protection for the woman as well as
registering society's disapproval, but would do nothing to
confront the man himself who would in due course return to the
community, and in most cases to the relationship.
For women who had experienced
violence there was the difficult choice of severing the
relationship either by leaving or by keeping the man out,
neither an easy option. Where she made the equally difficult
choice - to remain in the relationship - she lived in the hope
that the man would change, and that the violence would somehow
stop.
CHANGE
: A Resource to the Courts
The CHANGE Programme was set
up therefore to work as part of a co-ordinated response to
confronting domestic violence and to deal specifically with men
who carried out that violence.
CHANGE was fortunate in being
able to draw on the experience of similar programmes which had
been operating in the US and Canada for many years, and were
well-placed to benefit from the experience, knowledge and links
which Drs Rebecca and Russell Dobash, formerly of Stirling
University, had in this field. CHANGE was also committed to
the principle that domestic violence - men assaulting women -
was a criminal act, and this had to be taken into account in the
way we would work with men. Much of the US practice had
emphasised the need for effective programmes to be tied to the
criminal justice process, committed to the idea that violence is
a matter for police and courts, and running accountable
programmes as resources which these agencies could utilise.
The Referral and Assessment
Process
Where men have appeared
before the court on a charge where domestic violence has been
identified as an issue and have pled or been found guilty,
Sheriffs may call for a CHANGE Assessment of a man's suitability
for the Programme to be carried out at the same time as social
workers undertake a Social Enquiry Report.
In this process we are
concerned with a number of principal areas: the type of
violence the man has used to his partner; the history, frequency
and severity of that violence; whether and to what extent he
takes responsibility for his violence and his motivation to stop
it; and the potential safety of the woman involved. As
admission to CHANGE is as a condition of a Probation Order the
man necessarily remains in the community. It is therefore
necessary to ensure that such a sanction does not endanger his
partner.
It is recognised that at the
time of interview a man will have his own agenda for saying he
wants to stop. He is often remorseful and anxious perhaps to
stay out of prison or to get his partner back. As to the last,
he is told that acceptance onto the programme offers no such
guarantee and that his partner will be contacted to be given
details of the programme. She will be told that her safety and
wishes are paramount and that the sanction on her partner places
no deliberate obligations on her.
Some of the material which
men have to tackle on the programme will require an ability to
learn from and to analyse past behaviour so it is necessary to
look at a man's ability to handle such material. Flexibility in
material presentation ensures that literacy problems alone do
not prevent a man being accepted. A commitment and willingness
to learn is of greater importance.
Where men are recommended for
the CHANGE Programme they must understand and agree to comply
with a document called an Agreement to Participate. This is a
specific requirement of his Probation Order. The man is made
fully aware of its terms during the assessment and once the
Probation Order has been made by the Court the document is
signed by CHANGE, the man and the social worker concerned.
Liaison with the social worker involved, and specified areas of
work are important features of men's contact with CHANGE. Men
are also aware that any non-compliance with the terms of the
Programme will be referred back to his social worker and quickly
dealt with.
The Programme presently
operates as a sixteen-week block, comprising two-hour weekly
sessions which are held in the local community on weekday
evenings from 6.30 - 9.00 pm. Men understand that they may be
required to attend for longer than this - there is no sense in
which 16 weeks is presented as a formula which will radically
transform men. It is explained that the Programme functions as
a short, focused resource which equips men with some of the
skills which they need to learn why they use violence and how
and why they can stop.
The
CHANGE Programme Perspective
CHANGE
begins from the position that men's violence towards their
female partners stems from a fundamental inequality in the
male/female relationship which is rooted in patriarchy, and
engenders men's need to secure and maintain power and control in
relationships. From this perspective, men's abuse of and
violence towards women is seen as learned and intentional
behaviour rather than the consequence of individual pathology,
stress, alcohol abuse or the fact that he lives in a
'dysfunctional relationship'.
Traditionally men have been
assumed to have the right to exercise power and control over
women and children, both in general terms as well as in personal
relationships. Examples of this behaviour include controlling
women's freedom through financial, emotional, sexual or physical
coercion. Women are expected to seek security through a stable
relationship with one man, within which the man has
traditionally been accorded certain rights to exercise control
over the woman's behaviour (love, honour and obey), control
which in the past has been substantiated by law. Ultimately the
wider responsibility for solving the problems of family violence
lie with a change in social attitudes and changes in the way our
institutions respond to these manifestations of male power.
Within this context, programmes for men who abuse women are
viewed only as one aspect of a wider responsibility for society
to change.
Programme Content
Having made the point that
men's use of violence is intentional the Programme begins its
work with men by encouraging them to come to an understanding of
how and why they have been using violence. CHANGE defines
violence as a range of physical, sexual, and psychological
actions the purpose of which is getting and keeping control over
others, intimidating them, requiring them to do something
against their will, and punishing them.
Men will usually try to deny
their violence or blame it on someone or something else such as
alcohol or a sudden loss of control - a 'blind rage.' Sometimes
they seem to be frightened and confused by the apparent mystery
of this behaviour and want to understand it for themselves.
Breaking
Down the Violent Incident
Men often express
considerable remorse over their violence at this point in the
group. It is necessary to hear this, but it is also important
to remember that men may often have expressed remorse in the
past when pleading with partners to stay with them. On these
occasions they may have made promises they had no intention of
keeping, or that they would simply be unable to keep
particularly where they had no idea why their violence happened,
where they saw it happening due to factors beyond their control
or where they felt that something or someone else was to blame.
Over the course of several
weeks the Programme breaks down various incidents where men have
been violent and abusive including the incident which caused
them to be charged. Men come to see that in these incidents
violence had the purpose of maintaining or re-establishing
authority or of getting them what they wanted whether that be
'peace and quiet', a meal on the table, obedience or sex. The
violence is no longer 'mysterious' but purposeful.
Men are also made to look at
the fact that their violence involves gains and losses. The
'gains' are short term and concern the men’s power or supremacy
in the relationship. The losses are incurred at the expense of
the gains however and are more long term. According to most men
these include the loss of love, trust and respect of partners
and children, and the erosion of the men's own self respect.
It is often from these
expressions of lack of self respect and trust in themselves that
the work of the Programme goes forward.
Who
is to Blame?
The men seek to excuse their
unacceptable behaviour by blaming it on a variety of factors.
This may be drink, stress or the woman herself. They are
presented with the fact however that if they do not accept sole
responsibility for their use of violence, their promises to
themselves or to their partner that they will stop are null and
void. Men quite simply cannot refrain from behaviour for which
they do not accept full responsibility. Only by recognising and
accepting that violence has been their choice can men refrain
from further future violence, and no matter what friction or
tensions may exist in the relationship which he may have used to
justify his behaviour, it then becomes his responsibility to
deal with these without resorting to violence.
Men are encouraged to come to
an understanding of their past and continuing use of violence,
the promises they have made and why these have been broken and
the obstacles they place in their own path to prevent change in
themselves. In stating that men's violence is about power and
control however it is necessary to work with men to make sense
of the times when they see themselves needing to enforce this
power and control. This means challenging the attitudes,
beliefs and expectations which they have about relationships and
about women, but it also means being receptive to why men's view
of themselves is either so rigid or so threatened that they may
resort to the use of violence.
Responsibility
for Self
It
is an irony that men who seek to control the lives of others
rely so much on the excuse that they are out of control
themselves. The Programme stresses the need for men to take
more responsibility for their own lives, the difficulties which
are present in their lives and how they need to deal with these
difficulties whether this be stress, anger, alcohol abuse or
jealousy. In addressing these individual problems, the
Programme is not pandering to men's excuses for their violence.
It is important, for example, in the case of jealousy to note
that there are cultural overtones to jealousy as well as
personal individual anxieties which make us jealous. Both of
these must be examined.
Where there is a recognition,
however, that men are typically physically violent in situations
where they have been drunk, or jealous, or where they have felt
so out of control and fearful of this that they have struck out
to violently re-assert their power and dominance, there is a
real need to confront these as crisis issues which men must
address as individuals in order to begin the process of making
themselves safe people to live in the community.
Paper 4 North
Wales Probation Service
John
McKenna and Llew Owen
Working with Violence in the
Community
The North Wales Probation
Service has been running groups for offenders with convictions
for violence since 1987. Such a group is one of many
'specialist' groups operating in the area. The others are for
sex offenders and problem drinkers. There are also groups on
assertiveness, women only groups and groups for drug users.
North Wales does not run a
specialist group work programme for domestic violence offenders
though such offences and the issue of domestic violence has
emerged within the 'violence' groups that currently operate.
The groups operate over a
block period, 3 or 4 days, and they are seen as an integral part
of the supervision period, not separate to it. Therefore, pre
and post group discussions take place between referring
Probation Officer and course leader so that the work begun can
be continued from group to individual work.
In the group itself, early
phases concentrate on desensitisation including ice-breaking
material and video camera familiarisation.
Theoretically, the group work
programme holds to a social learning perspective using much of
the material that is currently available within the
anger-management, cognitive behavioural tradition. An important
part of the programme is during the first phase, when group
members are asked to think back to their earlier years and where
and from whom they picked up (learnt) their attitudes, role
models etc. regarding violent behaviour. This would include an
analysis of social stereo-typing in gender roles.
Experience has shown us that a
variety of styles and inputs have tended to hold participants'
concentration. Therefore group discussion, course leader
inputs, role playing and exercises all play their part in
encouraging pro-social development.
Novaco's anger management
principles are a focal point of the group sessions, and
exercises have been developed which address the following: self
esteem, learned responses, physical signs of arousal, relaxation
techniques, self-instruction, the use of anger as a positive
force, critical incident analysis and social skills training.
Whilst no experience within
North Wales exists of specialist provision for domestic violence
offenders, we would suggest that much of what is integrated into
a 'violence' programme as suggested above may well be suitably
adapted to domestic violence offender groups.
*
A more detailed account of a group work approach to offenders
with backgrounds of violence offences is available on request
from the Probation Headquarters, Alexandra House, Abergele Road,
Colwyn Bay, Clwyd.
Section 3 : Workshop
Reports and Conference Feedbacks
1. Main points
- Discussion generated by
conference/workshops was extremely useful
- Importance of having a
conference atmosphere where differences of views could be aired,
raising significant and vital new questions. It's taken this
conference to raise these questions for some.
-
distribution of written
material at start of conference as base for later discussion
2. Anxieties expressed
by some
- Anxieties about
practitioners now working focussed on anger management believing
this to be work focussed on domestic violence
- Anxieties about
addressing responsibility issues and prioritising women's safety
- Concern that criticism,
as well as approval, would be taken on board by practitioners
and lead to reflective changes in due course
- Addressing the issue of
who is given a platform for workshops in terms of looking at
domestic violence - this has consequences for future networking
and conferences
3. Comments on
conference organisation
- Special interest
groups: would have welcomed more clarity about possible aims
and discussion, but useful to meet in smaller groups
- Funding: recognition
of problems for voluntary organisations. In future could
conference organisers consider a possible reduction in charges
-
Welcoming/induction
arrangements: would have liked an informal sitting room,
especially in residences, and heating could have been better
- Some sharing of aims at
start of conference, setting agenda, and acknowledging possible
differences
- Better planning,
selection and preparation of workshops
- More time, or
better organised time, for discussion in workshops
- One organised,
informal event + more supportive arrangements for residential
participants
- Meals: lack of
vegetarian alternatives
1. General
- ‘Thank you’ to workshop
presenters
2. Positives
- Fluid organisation
- Range of contacts:
interagency
- Opportunity for
learning new ideas
- Enthusiasm
- Further developments
planned, e.g. practitioners’ meeting
in May.
- Positive impression of
women and men co-facilitating men’s groups
2. Criticisms
- Too big - felt more
like training sessions
- Not enough time for
questions
- Lack of written
handouts
- Exchange of
knowledge/skills could have been better
- A feeling that the
workshops were rushed
- Tension about how
workshops were delivered and how participants perceived their
needs, i.e. CHANGE workshop content and detail had been deemed
extremely useful but felt like a lecture - there was a need for
more participation
- Lack of discussion on
sexual violence - sexual violence raises issues for
practitioners
- Concern about all-male
practising groups. However, important to consider trusting men
to work in this field. Men have responsibility for themselves.
Anxiety about non-involvement of women as facilitators
- Differences between
aims of workshops and participants' expectations
Issues raised about
domestic violence and working with men
1. General
- We need to acknowledge
that we are at the beginning of a rocky road, but one with
exciting possibilities
- Perceived need for
getting support/allies within and outwith our particular
workplaces
2. Defining domestic
violence
- Domestic violence also
involves psychological/emotional abuse
- Importance of
acknowledging use of sexual violence as way of control (sex
being a reward, example of 'hearts and flowers' phase of abuse
cycle)
- Need for a consensus on
definition of domestic violence: should all agree domestic
violence is a crime!
3. Issues for women
- How can we ensure that
women are not blamed for domestic violence?
- How can women trust men
who are working with men?
4. Issues for men's
groups
- How can we stop men
colluding with men?
- How can we know about
the effectiveness of men's programmes? What is success? How do
you measure it?
- Is asking for help
success in itself?
- Concern about voluntary
men's programmes over issues of funding, value base,
decriminalisation of domestic violence, losing multi-agency
approach, accountability and involving Women's Aid
- The funding issue:
ensuring that violent men's programmes and support for women are
funded appropriately
- The issue of funding
depends on indication from men's programmes that they are worth
funding; that they work. Obvious need therefore for ongoing
evaluation
- We need to be able to
acknowledge failure if programmes are not working
- We need to be aware of
the pressure on workers to succeed
- We need to acknowledge
some women's unhappiness with men's groups, e.g. the fear that
men's groups will take funding away from women's groups
- Should women be
involved in running men's groups?
5. Wider social context
- There is encouraging
evidence of a raising of consciousness of wider society but
still a need for more gender education aimed at changing
attitudes within the civil and criminal justice system and in
social work and probation services
- The courts are not
geared up to deal with the problem, and don't acknowledge the
difficulty for women giving evidence
- Need for legal
profession to change
- Need for policy makers,
police, legal profession and judiciary to attend all
conferences.
Values which should
inform our work
- Safety of women
paramount
- Safety of children
paramount
- Women are not to blame
for the violence - domestic violence must be criminalised
- Feminist analysis, i.e.
domestic violence is about men wanting power and control
- Men are responsible for
their violent actions
- Men can change
Requirements for men's
groups
- It is imperative that
the philosophy underpinning the work is explicit
- They should challenge
structure and power issues
- Well worked out
programmes need to be the goal and evaluation/measured outcomes
are essential
- Programmes require to
be accountable
- They need to ensure
supports are available to women and children
- Childcare facilities
require to be linked to men's group
- There needs to be money
to ensure that programmes for men are monitored by women with
appropriate experience/expertise
- Men must take the
onus of this work. It is positive that some men have, but there
is also a role for women to fulfil.
Some thoughts on
developing good practice over the issue of domestic
violence
- To work with a
multi-agency approach right from the start to ensure an
accountable practice is developed
- To carry on dialogue to
agree a philosophy
- To build trust between
different organisations
- To develop strategies
which enable organisations to move forward together
- To ensure inter-agency
work recognises the importance of Women's Aid expertise and the
need for financial support for services to women and children
- To develop common
policy statements from women's and men's groups
- To develop
non-hierarchical organisation, i.e. collective working practices
- To address equal
opportunities issues, e.g. black women etc.
- To acknowledge
differences between voluntary and statutory agencies
- To address the need for
input into education acknowledging that role modelling starts
young
Proposals from small
groups
- Feedback from this part
of conference should be collated and distributed for the benefit
of future conferences
- We need a central
information bank so we can exchange ideas
- There should be more
Police Domestic Violence Units
- Local networking
towards national networks: monitoring of networks: national
pressure group
- Investigate sponsorship
for networking
- Network should work
towards an agreed set of principles, e.g. participants MUST take
on Women's Aid issues
- We should resolve to
work jointly to tackle domestic violence, to get common aims and
accountability
- I'm going to ensure
resources for women go alongside resources for men
- I am going to get in
touch with the women's officer to discuss a domestic violence
forum
- I am going to our
policy committee to inform them, and to our volunteer group to
talk about setting up a men's group to run alongside the women's
group
- I am going to organise
a a training day on domestic violence
- This conference has
been a good prop for me - I am going to a domestic violence
round table next week - I am more aware of different
perspectives
- I am going to take the
issue back to the Domestic Violence Working Party - and wake
them up!
- Arranging a local
meeting with CHANGE to spark off debate
- I am going to keep
COSLA Report and debate alive
- I am going to
so-and-so's desk to find the papers on domestic violence so we
can take the issue forward
- How about writing to
Directors of Education and asking them what they will put in the
curriculum?
- I am going to put
energy into making a workshop in Keighley happen in May
- I am going to discuss
the need for voluntary groups with CHANGE
- I am going to spread
the word in Northern Ireland
- I am going to raise the
issue of domestic violence in prison groups and in community
groups
- I am going to go home
and worry and try to relax before Monday
