CHANGE 1993-1994 Annual Report   Introduction On behalf of the management committee I am pleased to introduce the fourth Annual Report of the CHANGE Project. The most welcome development of the last year was undoubtedly confirmation that our Urban Aid Funding had been extended for three years to 31 August 1996. This not only ensures that the direct work of the Project continues but also allows the Committee to plan for future developments. In recognition that the Project was four years old, an accounting day was held in October for an invited audience, an event which is covered in more detail later in this report. The direct work with perpetrators of domestic violence in Central Region continues to be the main priority of the Project. Recently referrals to the Project have increased and the Co-ordinators will be running three groups over the summer period. Over the years the staff have continued to develop their skills and knowledge in this area of work. It continues to be an objective of the Project that a manual be produced based on this experience. The wider aims of the Project continue to be fulfilled through the training and consultancy work completed with other agencies throughout the country. At a time when others are addressing the issue of men’s violence I believe it is especially important that the Project continue to provide information and training about the many complex considerations that need to be taken into account before this work is embarked on. The Co-ordinators are eager to stress that in their opinion the planning for this work must involve those who represent the interests of women. The Project continues to consolidate its links with other agencies in Central Region, one outcome of which was the recent joint publication of an information pack for abused women. The future for the Project presents a number of exciting and challenging opportunities. While the management committee remains committed to maintaining the high standard of direct work with abusive men, it is also clear that if the Project is to continue beyond 1996, which we believe it should, we must give consideration to future developments. As such the committee has set up a planning group to identify and explore options for the future. This work is ongoing and vital. Finally, I would thank the three staff members, Dorothy, David and Monica, who have contributed greatly to the effective running of the Project. They have also provided much help to me in my first year as Convenor. James McCormick     The CHANGE Project The CHANGE Project was established in September 1989 following the committed work of a number of individuals from Women’s Aid and the legal, academic and social work professions, 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 are to deliver a criminal justice based re-education programme for men who have been violent to their wives or female partners, to encourage collaborative interagency practice over domestic violence, to offer training and consultancy to other professionals working in this area and, through publications, the holding of conferences and contributions to other conferences, to raise general awareness of the issue of domestic violence.   Staffing and Management CHANGE is staffed by two co-ordinators and an administrator. Staff are responsible to a management committee comprising representatives of Scottish and local Women's Aid and individuals who are concerned to achieve the goals of CHANGE. A Constitution lays down the objectives and functions of the organisation. Management committee meetings are held on a six-weekly cycle. In addition, an Advisory Group comprising representatives of local statutory and voluntary agencies meets occasionally to provide advice and information to the management committee. The present memberships of both these bodies are listed at the back of this report.   The CHANGE Perspective CHANGE’s position is 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. Ultimately, the wider responsibility for solving the problems of family violence relies upon a change in social attitudes and in the way in which 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.   The Men's Programme The men's programme continues to be the main focus of the Project's work with regular referrals coming from the Courts as well as from Social Workers. The following section gives an account of the referrals to the programme and provides an overview of the reasons why CHANGE has worked with some men and rejected others. Since CHANGE started working directly with men in March 1990, a total of 133 men had been referred for assessment by the end of March 1994. Discounting those cases where staff were unable to make contact and other cases currently being assessed CHANGE interviewed and assessed a total of 117 men. Of this number, 69 were considered to be suitable programme candidates. Chart 1 shows the status of all referrals at the end of March 1994. Chart 1: In all 48 men, or 36% of the total, were considered unsuitable. This is a substantial percentage and it is important that CHANGE is accountable for these non-recommendations.  There were a range of reasons why men were considered unsuitable. In most cases more than one reason applied to each man. Denial of responsibility on the man's part together with lack of motivation to change and presenting the offence as an isolated incident accounted for over one third of the total reasons for non-recommendation. Denial or minimisations of personal responsibility are, not surprisingly, encountered in almost all assessment interviews. In these particular instances, however, the level of denial encountered simply proved too intractable to contest or challenge. Expressing no motivation to change is usually because the man does not see the violence as his responsibility. In cases where the offence is presented as an isolated incident, men usually maintain it is atypical behaviour and therefore does not require them to change. The prevalence of personal problems, including alcohol, drug misuse, and general instability of living circumstances, have also resulted in non-recommendations. Men have also sometimes been simply unable to meet the requirements of the programme because other personal issues, including essential matters such as accommodation, have assumed priority in their lives. It is worth noting that alcohol abuse is a reason for non-recommendation only when it is seen to be chronic and overriding. A high percentage of men have been either drunk or under the influence of alcohol when charged, and while many of them acknowledge having an alcohol problem they are still able to participate satisfactorily in the programme. Issues pertaining to the severity or pattern of violence and concern for women's safety have also been a substantial factor in rejecting men who have then been dealt with otherwise by the courts. The issue of victim safety is of paramount importance when working with perpetrators. In a small number of instances men were rejected due to their having a recognised psychiatric problem. In one of these instances, however, the decision not to provide a service was reversed when fuller information was later received. Other circumstances such as employment factors have occasionally prevented men from being able to attend the programme and have resulted in non-recommendations, although a greater flexibility to work with men on competing shift patterns has been a feature of the programme in the past year. Finally, in two instances, hostility and an absolute refusal to accept the demands of the programme resulted in non-recommendation.   Partner Contact This year has seen the joint production of an information pack 'Help for Abused Women’. Produced by Central Region, it contains leaflets from Women's Aid, Social Work and CHANGE for those women whose partners are being considered for the men's programme. Its purpose is to inform women about the services they can go to for help and information while their partner is on the programme. The text of the CHANGE leaflet from the pack is reproduced in full on pages 9 - 11. Feedback from women whose partners had been on the programme in the past revealed that many would have welcomed more information about the work being done with men. Therefore, during this year, CHANGE began to send partners short information sheets which summarised the work covered on the programme. Taking account of comments from women and other agencies, these information sheets have undergone a number of revisions and are currently being redrafted to make them more user-friendly.   CHANGE Accounting Day In September 1993, CHANGE entered its second phase of funding under the Urban Programme which enables the Project to continue its current work and develop plans for the future. To mark the end of the initial four year period of funding CHANGE held an Accounting Day on 8 October 1993 for an invited audience comprising CHANGE's founders, funders, sponsors and advisers. Dr Russell Dobash of the University of Wales College of Cardiff spoke about why programmes for violent men are necessary, and Margaret Taylor, Scottish Women’s Aid, outlined why Women’s Aid became involved with the Project. CHANGE took this opportunity to give an account of its first four years’ work and achievements and to outline plans for the future. Kate Cavanagh and Ruth Lewis of the Men’s Programmes Research Team, which is looking at the effectiveness of working with men in this way, gave some preliminary impressions resulting from their work. We look forward to the publication of the full research findings later this year.   Teaching and Training During the last year CHANGE has striven to maintain a balance between the demands of the core work of running the men's programme and responding to the increasing number of requests from other agencies for training input. While we have had to look to the future of the Project and recognise the role that experience in agency-based training can play, we have endeavoured to keep such commitments to a minimum. In June 1993, we ran a half-day workshop entitled ‘Issues when Working with Domestic Violence Offenders’ for second year social work students at Dundee's Northern College. In November 1993 we undertook a half-day seminar on 'Violence in the Family' for postgraduate psychology students at Stirling University taking the MSc course in Psychology and Health. This input is now a regular annual commitment. In December 1993, we undertook a one-day training for workers on the Possil Drugs Project in Glasgow. This built on common areas of practice and skills which drug workers already employ; for example, holding people accountable for their actions and examining parallel issues which face partners of drug abusers and violent men. In February 1994, we held three, two-day training events for Fife Region Social Work Department, Merseyside Probation Service and South Yorkshire Probation Service on the theme ‘Probation-based Work with Domestic Violence Offenders’. In March 1994, we contributed the final day to a three-day interagency training conference for Northumbria Probation Service. Our input was called ‘Domestic Violence: The Reality and the Response’. The previous two-days had included contributions from PRO-Act, a drama groupwork organisation, the Zero Tolerance campaign, criminal justice agencies, and agencies working with women.   Prison-based Work CHANGE's policy on prison-based work this year has been to concentrate on working closely with one institution to develop a suitable programme. Joint work on a such a programme is now underway in Glenochil Prison. The focus of this is on ‘Resettlement and Relationships’ and will run initially as a pilot. Other institutions continue to show interest.   Conference Presentations The Co-ordinators attended the Second Annual Probation Practice Conference at Sheffield Hallam University from 7-9 July 1993. The conference theme was ‘Values, Gender and Offending’. CHANGE had been invited to present three two-hour workshops on groupwork with domestic violence offenders from a probation-based perspective. In all, 42 probation officers, researchers and academics attended our workshops and feedback from the conference organisers was very positive. We valued this opportunity to contribute to what we know is an expanding interest in probation practice. On 9 December 1993, CHANGE was invited to speak at a one-day conference in London organised by Crime Concern entitled ‘Women's Safety - Everybody's Business’. Other speakers were from Women's Aid Federation, England, the Edinburgh Zero Tolerance Campaign, Industry, the Media and Academia. CHANGE was the only organisation working with men to be represented. This was a high profile conference attended by HRH the Princess Royal. The Home Office Criminal Justice Conference which was held in Northumbria from 15 to 17 March 1994 focussed on the issue of domestic violence. The conference considered different approaches to domestic violence in the criminal justice system and the scope for progress through interagency working. Participants were invited from the public services, the bench, the voluntary sector, the legal profession and the academic sector. CHANGE was invited to contribute to the session on ‘Responding to Offenders’. A report was subsequently published by the Home Office Special Conferences Unit (Criminal Justice Conference, 15-17 March 1994, Home Office Special Conferences Unit, London). Practitioners' Network The practitioners' network, which grew out of the CHANGE Conference of January 1992, continues to meet twice yearly, this year in London and Bristol. The London meeting on 6 and 7 May, hosted by the Everyman Centre, was well attended by various organisations and individuals planning to or already undertaking work with violent men. The second meeting, held in Bristol on 21 and 22 October 1993, was hosted by New Directions. On this occasion various issues to do with values and ethics were raised and it was decided that the meeting planned for May 1994 would address the development of a code of practice.   Media and Publicity BBC Radio 2 are planning a social action project on domestic violence in October 1994. In preparation, they invited a range of organisations and individuals, including CHANGE, to a one-day seminar on 1 July 1993 at Broadcasting House in London. The BBC project, will span a five day period and plans to target women and to provide help and advice for friends and relatives as well as raise awareness of the issues amongst the general public and professionals. In February, CHANGE participated in the BBC Radio Scotland programme 'Speaking Out'. The programme took the form of a discussion and brought together a number of men who were working in various ways on the issues of men's violence, as well as representatives of Women's Aid.   Visitors Visitors to the Project this year have included postgraduate research and social work students from Scotland and south of the border; a number of practitioners working with violent men both within the statutory and voluntary sectors as well as two academics from Australia. Two members of the Parole Board for Scotland also spent a morning with the co-ordinators while researching the availability of possible parole programmes in the Central belt.   Urban Forum CHANGE continues to be actively represented on the Urban Forum, the umbrella organisation for all urban funded projects in Central Region. Together the Forum and the Region have done much to develop support and training initiatives essential to the success of many projects and for which CHANGE is most grateful.   Help for Abused Women The CHANGE Programme   Who is the CHANGE men's programme for? The CHANGE men's programme is for men who have been charged and gone before the local Sheriff Court for assaulting a woman partner, whether it's their wife, ex-wife, girlfriend or ex-girlfriend. In some cases a man who has been charged with another offence, but where details of his violent behaviour have come to light, may be considered for the programme. When the man appears in Court the Sheriff may call for a CHANGE assessment report at the same time as a Social Enquiry Report (SER) to help the Court decide on the best course of action. A CHANGE worker will then meet with him to assess his suitability for the men's programme. At this stage you will also usually be contacted by someone from CHANGE so that any questions you have about the programme can be answered. Not all men are assessed as being suitable for the programme. Much depends on whether he accepts he needs to change his behaviour and is willing to commit himself to the terms of the men's programme. CHANGE discusses his suitability with the social worker compiling the SER as men can only attend the programme if they are placed on a probation order which will mean working closely with a social worker. CHANGE then submits a report to the Court on the man's suitability at the same time as the social worker submits an SER. Where a man is considered suitable the Sheriff may then refer him to the programme as a condition of a Probation Order.   What will happen if he is referred to the men's programme? If your partner is accepted onto the programme he will have to sign a contract called the Agreement to Participate which spells out the terms he must agree to. These include agreeing that he is violent to you and that he wants to stop being violent, and committing himself to attending the programme sessions and doing the work he is given. You will be sent a full copy of the Agreement once he has started the programme. The programme itself consists of working with other men in a group for a weekly two hour session over a five to six month period. The sessions are held in the afternoons or evenings in either Falkirk or Stirling. Being on the programme will also involve him in regular review meetings with CHANGE and his social worker which you are welcome to attend and give your views.   What does the CHANGE programme do? The programme will aim to help your partner stop his violence. It stresses that violence is a criminal offence, that it is not acceptable to you or to the community and that he must take responsibility for ending his violence. The sessions run like a class with work consisting of talks, discussions and class exercises which look at how he has learned to use violence and how he can stop it. He will also be given homework to do each week which he is free to show you if you wish. We look at what we mean by violence. Violence is more than physical abuse: it also includes emotional and sexual abuse. He will learn that he must work to end all his abusive behaviour. We look at the kinds of excuses he may have used to explain his violence, such as anger or jealousy, and try to help him see how blaming his actions on someone or something else are just excuses and stand in the way of him taking responsibility for his actions. The programme stresses that he has learned to use violence to try to enforce his authority over you or to get his own way. But he does that at the expense of your pain and suffering and the loss of your respect, love and trust. If he truly wants to change and stop being violent he must learn to treat you with the love, trust and respect that you deserve. To help him do this we look at some of the ways he can learn to treat you better. More detailed information about the sort of work the programme covers will be sent to you in stages while he is on the programme.   What do I have to do while he is on the programme? The violence is his responsibility and it is up to him to do the work to stop being violent, although your interest is welcome and you have the right to be kept informed about the work he is doing. If you want support at this or any other time Women's Aid can offer that support. More details about them are contained in the Women's Aid leaflet in this pack.   What happens when he finishes the programme ? Your partner will be attending the CHANGE programme for the first five to six months of his probation order. Once he has completed his requirement with the programme, a review will be held at which CHANGE and Social Work discuss how your partner will then continue working on his behaviour on a one-to-one basis with his social worker. More details about this are contained in the social work leaflet in this pack.   Will the programme stop him being violent to me? CHANGE cannot guarantee he will stop being violent; that is up to him. You are not responsible for the violence nor must you stay with him just because he is on the programme. CHANGE respects your right to decide what is best for you; to stay with him or to end the relationship, and we stress that you MUST always put your own safety first.   What can I expect from CHANGE while my partner is on the programme? - contact from a CHANGE worker to tell you about the programme - information about when your partner is starting the programme, when he is    finishing, and if he is suspended for any reason - details about the work he has been doing - a confidential telephone service to answer any questions you may have    Management Committee Sally Brown Shona Campbell Doris Littlejohn Sue McLaughlin Margaret Anderson Lesley Irving Betty Kennedy Jim McCormick Joan Russell Val Simpson    Advisory Group Cllr Moira Fitzpatrick, Central Regional Council Felicity McClelland, Women’s Officer Mr Anthony McNulty, Regional Manager, Offender Services Ms Anne Morrison, Scottish Women’s Aid Chief Inspector Sam Muir, Central Scotland Police Sheriff A J Murphy Sheriff W M Reid Sheriff Sheehan Ms Sharon Stirrat, Victim Support Scheme Ms Senga Turner, Education Department Mr Keith Valentine, Procurator Fiscal Cllr Anne Wallace, Central Regional Council Mrs Muriel Young, Forth Valley Health Board Sheriff R E G Younger                 A charitable company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland No 183989             Scottish Charity No SCO18322          CHANGE acknowledges funding from the Scottish Executive