Melbourne ~ Australia
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Past causal explanations of assaults and killings of women by their male partners have been extremely misleading in that they have consistently redirected responsibility for the violent behaviour from the perpetrator to either external factors (such as alcohol, stress, etc.) or to the victim. There has also been a general community reluctance to condemn the behaviour as criminal. Because the community romanticises the values of marriage and the family, to acknowledge that assaults of a criminal nature regularly occur in some relationships, is difficult to accommodate.Assaults on women by their husbands have therefore been seen as a 'problem', not as a crime. In our society, because we apply therapy and counselling to many social problems, this sort of analysis has led to a proliferation of inappropriate responses from doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, who offer counselling and treatment (sometimes to the victim) to fix the 'problem' rather than the appropriate legal response which crimes against the person warrant.During the 1980's, in acknowledgment of the failure of previous therapeutic or legal solutions to address the incidence of assaults and killings, legal reforms were introduced in all States to provide legal protection for women from further assaults, and to clarify the criminal nature of those assaults.In the wake of legal reforms and the development of support services for women in Australia, there has been a burgeoning of counselling programs for perpetrators. In 1977, in the United States the first program, "Emerge", was established. In 1983, the first men's program was funded in Adelaide, South Australia and remains as part of the Domestic Violence Service, a multi-purpose agency providing services to both victims and perpetrators. There are now a number of counselling programs for perpetrators in this country offering a range of individual or group therapies to men who assault their wives, claiming to reduce or eliminate their use of violence; and in their current form providing a therapeutic alternative to the criminal justice system.The purpose of this paper is not to embark upon a detailed analysis of existing programs, but to raise and discuss issues which will help in determining:
Much of the debate about perpetrators' programs has been technical. It has related to the content and direction of individual programs rather than addressing some fundamental issues about the role such programs play in the community and their relationship to the justice system.The question needs to be asked; why has therapy for men been advocated so readily in Australia as a solution to assaults on women? There is little evidence to suggest that therapeutic programs can bring about a cessation of violence and, despite a gradual improvement in the quality of some programs, the prognosis is very poor. Some programs claim to reduce the frequency of assaults, but this should not be used as an indicator of success. Life with less regular assaults does not make it qualitatively different for the victim.Perpetrators' programs have never been suggested as a solution to assaults on other groups in the community, eg. assaults on police officers or assaults on particular migrant groups. Ellen Pence, at the National Forum on Domestic Violence Training (1990), talked about the need for 'just getting real' in relation to men's programs. She points out:
If you look at people who have brought about major social changes in our country and other men who are not in our country but in the world, people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King or Ghandi. Can you imagine anger management classes for white supremacists? 'How did you feel right before you burnt the cross?' 'Can you recognise your anger cues?' This is just something that they would not do.
Nevertheless, men's programs have enjoyed support for the following reasons:
Because men control power, property, jobs, and money in this society it is not surprising that wife assault, which is a male crime, should be so resistant to reform. Nor is it surprising that the crime is misinterpreted, misnamed as a problem rather than a crime, and that therapeutic help is offered to perpetrators rather than the appropriate legal response with its accompanying shame, humiliation and disruption to men's lives.The crime is so widespread (Public Policy Research 1987) that it is in the best interests of men for it to be perceived in a non-criminal way. Research and service statistics have demonstrated that men who assault their wives include clergymen, politicians, police officers, doctors, lawyers and others who hold positions of authority, play a role in shaping community attitudes and values, and have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
The rapid development of programs in Australia within a policy vacuum, without practice standards and accountability mechanisms, has been a cause of mounting concern for policy makers in some states. Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, are therefore developing operation principles and guidelines.The main concerns are as follows:The mere existence of programs, regardless of their quality, can inhibit the development of effective criminal justice response unless their subordinate relationship to the justice system is clearly stated and a system for accountability developed. When offenders are diverted from a legal response to a therapeutic response without sanctions, this confirms the community's belief that the behaviour is a 'problem' requiring therapy rather than a crime attracting sentence.The fact that programs are run by men, for men and often from a philosophical base which rejects traditional concepts of masculinity, is perceived by the community as positive. Men are seen to be taking responsibility for their 'problem' and programs have a 'veneer' of progressiveness. However, when they act (either wittingly or unwittingly) as a diversion from an appropriate legal response, they provide yet another poor substitute for justice, masquerading as social change.Counselling and therapy cannot by themselves bring about social change. If change is to be achieved, male violence must be responded to as a crime. Arrest and conviction of offenders will educate the community generally (as well as the offender) that assaults on women are unacceptable. Counselling and therapy, when used as an alternative to the law, undermine the intention of the law (McGregor 1990). For an intervention to act as a deterrent, the behaviour in question has to be named and understood as shameful and unacceptable. The majority of men who are violent do not believe they are doing anything wrong. They are extremely self-righteous (McGregor 1990), believing that they own their wives and therefore have the right to punish them if they behave unacceptably (Haskell 1990). The attitude of these men is embedded in recent history. Until 1915, the law upheld the right of a husband to beat his wife. The law has changed, but the behaviour of some men has not. While laws continue to be broken without penalties being imposed, men rightly continue to expect that they can assault their wives without fear of punishment.Men do not understand their violence in terms of being criminal, shameful and socially unacceptable and they will not learn this without the crisis and discomfort that legal intervention creates. Any program which helps men circumvent the legal consequences of their violence will not only be counter-productive but is unethical when that behaviour breaks laws and is life threatening (McGregor 1990).Conventional criminal justice responses to other crimes of violence sometimes involve rehabilitation programs, including therapy, but only as a post-sentencing option. In no other crime are rehabilitative programs offered instead of the legal process, except for the New South Wales Pre-trial Diversion Program for incest offenders. They are used as an adjunct to the criminal law, not as an alternative. The essential stages of charge, prosecution, conviction and sentence must precede a program in order to be consistent with the community response to other crimes.Finally, the most important concern is that counselling programs for men imply that violence against women is an individual problem rather than a political, social and economic issue for which the whole community is responsible. The institutional response to this crime should be a socially responsible one. In the past, however, our legal, educational, political and religious systems have failed to attribute responsibility for the criminal behaviour to the perpetrator of assault by not using the appropriate legal responses and sanctions. There is a historical absence of clear-cut prohibitions and penalties for the perpetrators. This is the major issue to address.Local Domestic Violence Committees and Services regularly bring to light examples of the ways in which institutions in the community deny the criminality of assaults on women and promote their invisibility. Examples are numerous:
Men's programs take on these neutralising qualities, as the following discussion from a Duluth women's group demonstrates:
Facilitator:
That reminds me of the first men's group I ever attended. There were about fifteen men in the group. We were supposed to go around the room and introduce ourselves. Everyone was to say a sentence or two about why they were in the group. The first man said he was there because he had a short fuse. The next said he was there because he had an anger problem. Another said he exploded. Another was ordered by the court to attend. Everyone said these kinds of things about fuses, explosions and court orders. I began to wonder to myself if this was a batterers' group or not. Aren't these men here because they beat up women?
Kathy:
I know that my husband used to tell me he beat me because he was working out a deep hatred he held for his mother and when he hit me it really had nothing to do with me.
Jill:
My husband said the reason he hit me was because his pressure valve was defective. (Laughter)
Facilitator:
That's a good one. A defective pressure valve. I suppose it's pretty hard to make an appointment to have that checked. So what does this mean to us? When you're being beaten and when it's over you have a black eye and this incredible fear in your stomach that won't go away for days, you're in pain and emotionally hurting and degraded. People are talking about pressure valves, short fuses and prayers, how does that impact us? What does it do to us?
Geri:
It made me feel almost invisible. It seemed that what I was going through and what everyone over here was talking about were two different things. I started to feel as though I wasn't there, I was invisible.
(Pence 1987)
At an individual level, referring men to counselling when their violence is life threatening may unrealistically raise women's hopes that their partners will change, leaving them at risk of further injury or death.
David Adams (1988) has provided a useful analysis of the five models of treatment programs commonly used. Some programs are a combination of these approaches. He points out that many approaches give contradictory or confusing messages to men about why they assault and what they must do to stop it.
The Insight Model is the traditional approach to understanding violence. The violent behaviour is seen to be a symptom of a deeper problem and is not identified as the primary problem. The common theme is that certain intra-psychic problems, such as depression, fear of intimacy etc., give way to violent behaviour.Insight therapy aims to help the man gain insight into how he has been damaged by past experience and learn how not to act out his emotional injuries in current relationships. The man's 'fragile sense of self' must be therapeutically bolstered before he can be expected to give up abusing others. Apart from the obvious ethical questions this approach raises, there are four main problems.
Some programs consider that treatment, of both the abuser and the abused is essential. Couples are seen together in joint therapy and the battering is viewed as a problem which needs to be solved together. There is a tendency for couples counselling to equalise responsibility for the violence between the man and the women. No matter how clear the message to the perpetrator that he is responsible for his behaviour, the fact that the couple 'work' together to get the violence under control shifts the responsibility.By involving the women in the solution, the sex role stereotyping of wives as helpers and nurturers, and of men as not fully responsible for their violent behaviour, is maintained. Couples counselling also places the woman in a 'no-win' situation. The therapeutic expectation is that she can be open and honest about her feelings and grievances. In fact, women know that this will be followed by another attack and understandably behave with self preservation in mind.
Since violent behaviour is seen as reflecting certain social skill deficits, interpersonal skills training has taken a prominent part in helping men control their violence. These programs share a philosophy that identifies skills learning as fundamental to change but differ in terms of which skills are emphasised. Most would include communication skills and assertiveness training. Teaching assertiveness skills is based on the assumption that aggressive individuals lack these skills. Programs also differ in how strongly they identify wife assault as controlling and sexist behaviour, and to what extent they challenge the sexist attitudes of their clients. For some it is an integral part of the program, in others it is minimised or not addressed at all. The major weakness with this approach has already been mentioned. When interventions aim to reduce stress and improve interpersonal skills, the power and control intention of wife assault is minimised. This approach cannot explain why women are often the sole targets of men's abuse. Nor can they account for the large number of men who cope badly with stress and have poor interpersonal skills but who do not assault their wives. There are particular problems with programs which rely heavily on teaching anger management skills. Most current programs in Australia and overseas incorporate anger control, communication skills, and sex role re-socialisation. In many programs, anger control is central to the treatment. The behavioural skills promoted by anger control methods include arousal reduction, communication enhancement and problem solving. Arousal reduction uses stress management techniques and includes 'time outs' (when the man 'cools off'). Communication enhancement aims to promote more assertive expression of feelings. Problem solving is the developing of alternatives to aggression and identifying circumstances in the environment which may provoke arousal. Anger control skills, however useful for re-directing anger in some individuals, are based on a false assumption when applied to wife assault. Wife assault is not about uncontrollable anger. It is about the display of anger to control women. Men use anger and aggression as a means to get their own way. Any reduction in the use of violence brought about by anger control techniques is cosmetic. The monitoring of reformed batterers by Gondolf and Hanneken (1986) revealed a process of change that went far beyond the scope of anger control. A reliance on anger control may reduce the physical abuse, but intensify the psychological abuse because the man's need to control women hasn't been addressed. Edward Gondolf and David Russell (1986) summarise the shortcomings of anger control as follows:
The way an abusive man copes with stress, communicates feeling, and attempts to resolve conflicts is situation-specific. It depends on the gender and status of the person with whom he is interacting, as much as it does on his level of social skills. Abusive men's interaction with police, bosses, neighbours and mates demonstrates that they are able to respond in the appropriate manner when they perceive that response to be in their best interests. These contradictions between the abuser-at-home and the abuser-away-from-home are consistent when we look at the balance of power between the man and others and the absence of controls on his behaviour towards his wife. Men assault their wives because they can. Society will not tolerate the same behaviour directed at other people in public places. Rather than reflecting a deficit of interpersonal skills, the violent husband's selectively abusive behaviour indicates his well developed system of control over his wife and an absence of social controls on his behaviour.
Within this model, assault on wives is seen as one form of controlling behaviour that maintains an imbalance of power and dominance over women by men. Power and control are the fundamental issues, and therapeutic interventions challenge the man's attempts to control his partner by the use of physical force and psychological abuses. Although the pro-feminist model recognises the need to provide basic education about taking care of others and communication skills, it also sees it as essential to challenge the man's sexist expectations and controlling behaviour. Many programs build in the principle of safety for women as a priority and men are expected to make 'safety plans' that minimise the possibility of continuing violence. Such plans may include restraint order compliances, eliminating alcohol or drug use, etc. Separate contact is made with the victim by the local women's programs to ensure she has full legal rights and information, and to provide her with her own avenues of support. Intervention also includes confronting the many ways in which men deny or shift responsibility for their violence. Because of men's tendency to replace physical violence with other forms of abuse, therapists also identify and challenge their other control patterns. Programs such as "Emerge" in the USA have found that abusive men engage in bargaining behaviour with their wives and counsellors over how much and how soon they will give up their abusive behaviours. Usually they want a 'quick fix'. Initial changes tend to be cosmetic and provisional in return for concessions from their wives., e.g., to return to the relationship. Profeminist counselling programs give men a choice to comply with the program and safety plans, or to be terminated with notification to their partners. If those who are court mandated are terminated, they are remanded for violation of probation. In those cases where men do change and give up their attempts to control their partners, referrals for couples counselling may be made, but only when both parties are interested in working on the relationship and the threat of violence has been eliminated. However, teaching identified abusers to change their sex role expectations is insufficient when those expectations continue to be part of male culture. Not only abusers hold those attitudes and values. All men need to examine their inability to perform traditionally female tasks, e.g., child rearing, housework, the nurturing of family members (Scutt 1990), their expectations of a relationship and their definition of masculinity.
The following descriptions of the development of programs in some states demonstrates the diversity of approaches taken and the embryonic state of policy development in this area.
Queensland funds programs for perpetrators of domestic assault from the Domestic Violence Initiatives Program Grants under the auspices of the Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs. Perpetrator related programs are funded to a total of $89,178 this financial year, representing approximately 20% of the total funds available under the current Domestic Violence Initiatives Program Grants. The development of the program was recommended by the Queensland Domestic Violence Task Force, specifically Recommendation No. 5 (Queensland Domestic Violence Task Force 1988, p.97) which states: There are currently seven government funded (state or federal) programs: three in Brisbane metropolitan area; two in outer-metropolitan area; one in Far North Coast Queensland and one in North Coast Queensland. Another program which may be relevant is:
Far North Region:
The Queensland Domestic Violence Council is in the process of developing draft guidelines with respect to the operation of perpetrator programs in Queensland.Other relevant recommendations of the Task Force were:
Evaluation of perpetrator programs will be carried out, in a general sense, as part of the assessment of all funded programs within the Domestic Violence Awareness Unit.
There is one government funded perpetrators' program in Western Austrailia, known as the Domestic Violence Intervention Program. It is operated by the Western Australian Marriage Guidance Council at their Freemantle office and receives some State government funding ($30,000) from The Family Support Program, Department for Community Services. The program employs one full-time counsellor, one part-time counsellor who leads two groups for victims and survivors, and other co-leaders as required. The Office of the Family has arranged for a member of the research staff of the Curtin University School of Social Work to evaluate the program which has now been in existence for approximately 12 months. The evaluation will run for three months at a cost of $7,000 funded by the Office of the Family. The results of the evaluation will assist the Office of the Family to develop State government guidelines for future funding of such programs. A Report is due by mid-July when a Working Party, including government and community representatives, will be convened. The Working Party wiII draft guidelines, including evaluation requirements for any future government funding of perpetrators' programs.
From 1986 to 1991, there was one government funded program operating in Tasmania. MOVE ( Men Overcoming Violence) initially received $8,500 from the Sundry Social Services Grant, administered by the Department of Community Welfare, and $10,000 from the Mental Health Services Commission. By 1989-90, the allocation was $52,033 from the Department for Community Services, with no financial contribution from the Mental Health Services Commission but a contribution in kind provided in counselling hours by Mental Health Services staff. There have been three regional MOVE organisations in the North, North West, and South, but only the Hobart based service has received funding. As well as providing therapeutic services to, men, MOVE has undertaken community education and professional training.The Department of Community Services employed a consultant to evaluate the MOVE program in January 1990. On the basis of the evaluation data, the Department set up a Working Party and commenced negotiations with MOVE to remodel its service in accordance with the recommendations which were, primarily, that:
MOVE be resourced to develop a different model of perpetrator program to confront men's use of violence and to respond to the potential for Court ordered counselling after conviction for assault. (Recommendation 41)
The consultant also undertook a review of domestic violence services and policy. An Interdepartmental Committee was established to consider the report and establish future policy directions for the state including the role of perpetrators' programs (Stewart 1990). The Committee reported to Cabinet in March 1991 and, as a consequence legislative and policy changes, are well underway. The Department of Community Services also employed a Program Development Consultant in January 1991 to develop an appropriate service model for victims of domestic violence. As a consequence, the overall strategy adopted by the Department involves an adaptation of the Duluth Minnesota Model, one of the more successful intervention strategies in the domestic violence field. The model is designed to ensure that:
These key elements of the Minnesota Model have been utilised to provide direction for service development in Tasmania. Integration and consistency of approach are fostered within this model through the following strategies:
Thus there has been a significant policy shift in this state, both in terms of funding priorities and clarification of the role of perpetrator programs in the overall strategy. There are currently no State government funded programs operating.
There are six State government funded perpetrator' programs funded from the Family Violence Initiatives Fund administered by Community Services Victoria. This program also funds a range of support services for victims and community education activities. There are a number of programs operating from some Community Health Centres which also provide victim support programs. Other perpetrators' programs are run by the Office of Corrections but primarily for sex offenders. The development of programs in Victoria has been fairly ad hoc and has not been guided by government policy. There are no official guidelines for the operation of such programs and no formal mechanism to make programs accountable, apart from meeting criteria for funding in the case of those funded through Community Services Victoria. Some programs evaluate their function but this is usually done by the organisation and not by an independent body. (Some program leaders have indicated that they would welcome independent evaluation but lack the resources.) Although there are no official guidelines for the operation of programs, the Family Violence Prevention Committee (FVPC) has circulated a discussion paper (Family Violence Prevention Committee, unpub.) in order to raise awareness in the community about the development of programs. Although the discussion paper has no formal status, it provides a clear statement of principle for the development of future policy.
The FVPC's broad functions of monitoring the effectiveness of the Crimes (Family Violence) legislation and raising community awareness about family violence necessitate discussion and recommendations about programs for violent men. The Committee recognises that the causes of family violence, and therefore any preventive measures, cannot be separated from the social and structural barriers which exist in society to prevent women and girls from gaining equality with men, both economically and socially. The Committee also emphasises that the criminal nature of family violence must be dealt with accordingly and that programs for violent men should not provide an avenue whereby violent behaviour can be excused if the aggressor is attending counselling, or a 'program' in anger management. Further, the Committee believes that if there are programs for violent men they should:
- recognise that violence is controlling and abusive behaviour, including not only physical assault, but also verbal discrediting, property destruction, humiliation, economic control, sexual assault or coercion, psychological violence and control of a woman's eating, sleeping employment and friendships.
- acknowledge that women's safety and autonomy is of paramount importance throughout the program. That during the time of the man's attendance, his violence be treated as a criminal offence and that his partner be encouraged to take out an intervention order or to report a breach of an intervention order.
- focus on the violent behaviour of the aggressor and not on anger management.
- demonstrate an understanding of the unequal power relations between men and women in our society and how these lead to family violence and understand that stress, life crises, chemical dependency and alcohol, whilst often contributing factors, are NOT the root causes of family violence.
- emphasise the criminal nature of assault in the home.
- not make men's participation conditional upon their spouse/partners attendance.
- not offer false expectations of changing men's behaviour as this could put women and children in great danger.
(FVPC unpub., p. 14)
The FVPC also recommends the following broad guidelines be circulated to all relevant agencies (e.g., Community Education Task Force Networks, Professional Education Task Force Networks, the Judiciary, Community Services Victoria Funding Bodies) for information:
That an evaluation of services for violent men be undertaken to help shape policy guidelines for future service development. This evaluation should question:That referral to programs for violent men not be used as an alternative to appropriate legal sanctions.
- whether attendance is voluntary or directed;
- investigate the length and effectiveness of such programs;
- monitor the correlation between the decrease in physical abuse and the increase of emotional and psychological abuse;
- the effectiveness of programs established to modify the behaviour of violent men
(FVPC unpub., p. 2)
At a recent forum on Men's Programs in Victoria, a checklist on factors to consider for counselling services for violent men was presented (Pease 1990). Although the paper does not address the crucial issue of the relationship of such programs to the criminal justice system, it does address other major issues.
The Victorian Community Council Against Violence has just released a Special Issues Paper on men's programs which looks beyond therapeutic programs and includes a broader range of strategies. The paper points out that, apart from those programs which deal directly with the abusive male, there are those which use broad educational strategies to counter the social and cultural processes which condone and promote male violence against women. Several promising initiatives are listed including:
The Family Violence Professional Education Task Force, which was established in Victoria in 1987 and aims to:
- improve the service provision offered by professionals for victims of family violence through education and training;
- improve the competency of educators in their teaching of family violence issues to students in designated post-secondary education courses;
- increase the resources devoted to the study of family violence in designated postsecondary education courses.
Educational programs for children include initiatives such as the Peace Education Resource Centre, established within the Ministry of Education and Training, which promotes conflict resolution within schools. The Centre responds to schools' requests for advice and resources and to teacher training institutions in developing curriculum material, conducting workshops for students and providing information in newsletters and publications. Educational strategies for older students include the use of resource materials such as Violence at Home: The Big Secret, produced by the Office of the Status of Women, and Standing Strong, a series of magazines first developed in New Zealand by the Whangarei Rape Crisis Centre and Candace Bagnall, which has been widely distributed to schools in Victoria. Taking the Rap and Can of Worms have been developed by the Western Education Centre for work with 15-20 year olds in school and community settings. These resources are part of curriculum development in non-sexist education and are aimed at developing different perceptions of masculinity in young males. They are based on the premise that boys, like girls, are disadvantaged by current sex-role expectations which "restrict options in relation to career choices, and restrict development in relation to parenting, interpersonal relationships and self-esteem". Programs which target teachers are also being developed by the West Education Centre based on the evidence which suggests that all teachers teach sex-roles subconsciously. A group of male teachers from the local technical school participated in a support group to explore issues, teaching strategies, and ideas for class plans. A major finding was that there can be no meaningful changes in student behaviour without changes to the whole school environment.
Two male consciousness-raising groups have been listed by the Council as having a role in challenging the patriarchal norms, values and practices which act to maintain inequality between men and women. Men Against Sexual Assault and Men Against Patriarchal Societies both undertake community education and use other strategies to change oppressive attitudes and practices. For example, Men Against Patriarchal Societies has been working in some secondary schools and holding discussions with boys and their male teachers about concepts of masculinity. There are a number of similar men's groups operating around Australia. Some, like the two Victorian groups, perform a valuable role in shifting the social norms or providing an alternative to traditional thinking about masculinity. Other groups have been less clear in their approach, operating from the belief that men too are 'oppressed'. However, oppression results from discrimination and disadvantage which are structured into the social system. Women experience day-to-day systematic belittlement and disadvantage in the workplace and in the home. There is no systematic discrimination structured into society against men per se. They are not denied promotion or political representation, they do not, in general, receive less than average pay, they are not expected to perform all or most domestic duties or to be responsible for child-care, and they are not beaten up if they fail to come up to expectations. It is therefore dangerous and misleading to promote the position of some men's groups which see men's inability to express their emotions, to cry, to be affectionate, to nurture and care for their children as 'oppression'. Although, in our society, men are expected to match up to rigid and inhuman stereotypes, to argue that this is 'oppression' is inaccurate and reactionary and downplays the reality of women's lives.
The South Australian Government has been funding men's programs since 1983. The Domestic Violence Service (DVS) is funded through the Health Commission, and divides its resources equally between perpetrators and victims. These services operate from the DVS itself and from some community health centres. The DVS provides training for workers in the domestic violence field, with 50% of staff time being spent on training, 25% on community development and 25% on service provision. The level of funding provided is approximately $200,000 per annum and six staff are employed. The DVS program has been evaluated (Poynter 1989) and a 12 month follow-up study completed (Poynter 1990). The program is a structured 12 week group program based on the Following principles:
The program is not integrated with the criminal justice system, participants are not court mandated and participation is voluntary.
In New South Wales there are no State government funded perpetrators' programs although some non-govemment agencies have provided group or individual counselling, e.g. the Marriage Guidance Council of New South Wales. The New South Wales Domestic Violence Committee has monitored the research findings from programs elsewhere and has taken note of the experiences in other states. The Committee has not recommended the allocation of resources to this area. However, it did recommend in its 1985 Report that:
Probation and Parole Services are requested to develop a treatment program for domestic violence offenders as an additional sentencing option available to the court. (Recommendation 28)
However, no additional resources were provided for this purpose and it has not occurred to any significant degree. As community services continued to express interest in, and request funding for, men's programs, the Committee employed a Project Officer under the following terms of reference:
Following consideration of the Report (McFerran 1989), the Committee did not recommend establishing a pilot program in New South Wales and made the following recommendations as a consequence of the research findings.
Counselling for Batterers
- The Committee does not support the establishment or funding of a pilot program, principally because of the lack of evidence of their success and the need to target programs at women and children.
- Mandatory counselling for batterers is not recommended.
- The Committee did, however, acknowledge that any programs for batterers or perpetrators must:
This should include existing programs such as any being run by the Department of Corrective Services Probation and Parole Offices, and Community Health Services.
3.1 be externally evaluated
3.2 not be offered as anything other than a post-sentencing option
3.3 be used only as an addition to legal responses, e.g. charges of assault A(D)V0s and not as an alternative.
Training- That the Department of Corrective Services Probation and Parole Offices introduce training programs on domestic violence issues for their officers.
- That educational establishments incorporate specialist training on domestic violence issues into appropriate undergraduate and vocational courses.
Legislation- That the Crimes (Apprehended Violence) Amendment Act 1989 not be proclaimed, and that instead Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders continue to operate as at present.
- That police policy and resources continue to encourage the arrest and charging of domestic violence offenders and the use of A(D)V0s.
- That the magistracy consult with the New South Wales Domestic Violence Committee over sentencing options for domestic violence offenders.
- That the Family Court develop a protocol for dealing with cases involving domestic violence.
Support- That the number of follow-up support workers attached to women's refuges be increased and that the positions become funded on a full-time basis.
Education- That the Department of Education introduce a core curriculum subject of 'personal development' based on a revised version of the 1984 kit Teaching About Non-Violent Relationships and that the revision be undertaken jointly by the Department of Education and the New South WalesDomestic Violence Committee.
General- That the NSW Domestic Violence Committee develop a State strategic plan for services in the area of domestic violence, to be submitted to the Minister for Family and Community Services as a matter of urgency.
(McFerran 1989, pp. v-vi)
The issues around perpetrators' programs have been largely unresolved in New South Wales, but will be addressed in the Strategic Plan.
Many programs operating within Australia at the moment fall into this category. The Tasmania MOVE (Men Overcoming Violence) program was funded from the Sundry Social Services Grants Program of the Department of Community Services, which fnds a range of community services. The Domestic Violence Initiatives Program of the Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs in Queensland allocates approximately 20% of its funds to programs. Victoria funds men's programs from the Family Violence Initiatives Fund and the Western Australian Men's Program is funded from the Family Support Program of the Department of Community Services. However, there are some disadvantages in developing men's programs within this model:
The Duluth Project uses counselling and education programs for men as one component of an overall intervention strategy. Because this project is internationally regarded as a success and has been used as a model by Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, it is useful to look at what makes it works so well. The most important aspect of this project has been to change the criminal justice system's response to domestic assaults. The Duluth community has a firm commitment to enforce assault laws and civil protection orders. This has involved two fundamental changes in police and court practice. The first has been that the onus of imposing sanctions on perpetrators is shifted from the victim to the community. Agencies are aware that the purpose of battering is to establish and maintain control over the victim and anticipate that the perpetrator will use the control he has established over his partner to protect himself from the legal system.
The nature of the relationship between the abuser and his victim is one in which the abuser imposes his will upon her. Her behaviour is prescribed following guidelines set by the abuser. Like the hostage or prisoner of war, she protects herself by acting for him. Limiting the victim's responsibility in evoking and imposing legal sanctions on the abuser decreases his ability to manipulate the system, and avoid the consequences of his violence. (Pence 1985)
Agencies have therefore developed policies which promote arrest, increase convictions, place legal sanctions on perpetrators, increase the use of incarceration of perpetrators, require education and rehabilitation for violent behaviour and follow-up on police calls to provide victims with safe housing and legal advocacy. The second fundamental change has been to develop a consistent response to perpetrators through inter-agency policy development. In recognition of the fact that these policies are effective only when they are uniformly and consistently applied, nine agencies came together under the umbrella of the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project and collectively adopted written guidelines, policies and procedures governing their response to domestic assault. Thus the actions of police, prosecutors, judges, probation officers and all other service providers uniformly impress on the perpetrator that his use of violence will result in harsh penalties. The second unique aspect of this project is that there is general recognition in the community that counselling and education programs cannot stand alone as effective intervention tools. They need to be integrated with the criminal justice response. Further, it is necessary to first get the other components of the intervention strategy right before using resources on men's programs. In Duluth, the men's program is part of a much larger system of controls placed on the men to discontinue their use of violence. All parts of the system of control - gaol visitors, probation officers, judges, counsellors and educational group facilitators agree that the men's educational program is the last step of the community response and that the groups will be ineffective if they take place without community commitment to hold the man legally accountable for his violence. Counselling and education groups are used in conjunction with legal sanctions which consistently impose penalties against men who continue to use violence. The community's response to violence, including arrest, court action and incarceration, is clear and men learn that assaults will not be tolerated. The men's groups teach them to understand the basis of their abusive behaviour and point to ways they can change their behaviour. The important lesson to be learnt is that only because legal sanctions precede, and remain in place during participation in the program do the groups have some impact. If the perpetrator does not consistently attend counselling or educational groups, or uses any violence during the probationary period or order for protection period, the project staff will request a court hearing for breach of probation. The Court may impose all or some of the original gaol sentence and again require the perpetrator to complete the education program on release from gaol. In civil cases, i.e. breaches of an order, the perpetrator may be found in contempt of court, given a gaol sentence or the choice of completing the program or going to gaol. The Project has a realistic view of the role of men's programs and, in their overall strategy, programs are never presented as a panacea. Women are continually urged by Project staff, probation officers and the courts to make their safety first priority and to report continued acts of violence or threats. However project staff consider that counselling and educational programs have some impact in that they:
It is acknowledged, however, that counselling and education is an individual response to a social problem of such magnitude that attempting to counter it by working with individual perpetrators is far beyond the resources of the community. The Duluth Project has attempted to contain the costs of rehabilitation by using a more economical classroom approach with a large number of abusers. The point to be made strongly in favour of the Duluth model is that referral to an education program usually takes place at the point of trial for a criminal offence. The perpetrator is already receiving a strong message from the state by way of arrest, conviction and legal sanctions, that his violence will not be tolerated. His position may present him with the alternative of a custodial sentence. Mandatory attendance at an educational program in addition to a suspended gaol sentence, as part of a protection order or probation agreement provides a tighter system of control on the man's behaviour than the variety of loose arrangements outside the criminal justice system which currently exist in this country. As the Victorian Community Council Against Violence paper points out 'this approach has an appealing balance of sanction and the opportunity for personal reform'.
This is a three year project to be implemented from early 1991. It is broadly based on the Duluth model and will operate in one chosen community, the city of Hamilton, with a view to national implementation in the future. The New Zealand Family Violence Prevention Coordinating Committee has carried out some thorough groundwork to prepare for this project. A worker has been employed in the chosen community to undertake the necessary development work and to write a course content for the men's education program which holds the abuser accountable for his violence. Prior to this, an independent economist assessed the costs and benefits of the pilot project in a report to Government. A working party was set up to examine the applicability of the Duluth Project to the social, cultural and legal conditions of New Zealand. The working party met for a year and, during that time, Duluth Project staff visited and met with both the Family Violence Prevention Co-ordinating Committee and Hamilton agencies. The pilot project will provide diversion to a men's program as the court sentence with work orders and gaol for non attendance. The course will use an education based format based on the power and control model. This approach is relatively new to New Zealand and most men's groups are still using different material. The most crucial points for the project have been identified in the following guidelines.
However, New Zealand has also been funding Programs for perpetrators through a community services funding model for some years. The Department of Social Welfare introduced a funding program in 1986 which focused on the rehabilitation and retraining of men and aimed to:
By 1988, 20 programs were receiving funding from a budget of $81,000. Six of those groups in receipt of funding offered programs specifically for Maori men in recognition of the cultural differences involved. In order to qualify for assistance, men's groups have to meet several criteria for eligibility. These include, formalising their structure; setting up systems of accountability; liaising with, supporting and co-operating with other local groups and agencies working in the field. By 1989, 40 groups were running men's programs. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether the Pilot Intervention Project can set a new direction given that a different model is already well established across the country.
The following principles and operational guidelines are presented as a model for discussion in developing a New South Wales policy on perpetrators' programs. There obviously needs to be community and government involvement to finalise state guidelines and principles. This is already underway in two states. The Western Australian Government has approved the establishment of a Working Party for the dual purpose of examining the Domestic Violence Intervention Program Evaluation (currently underway) and developing state guidelines and principles to guide future funding of programs. In Tasmania, the Department of Community Services established a Working Party in mid 1990 to examine the MOVE Evaluation (Stewart 1990). The Working Party met for several months and the Department consequently employed a Program Development Consultant Officer to pull together the Working Party deliberations, the MOVE Evaluation Recommendations and to develop a service proposal. The overall strategy which has been adopted is an adaptation of the Duluth Model involving a strengthening of the criminal justice response, improved services and responses to women and the provision of accountable educational programs for perpetrators of domestic violence to be implemented as a final stage of the strategy. A similar process of consultation, involving key players, should also occur in New South Wales in order to develop effective State guidelines. However, considerable work has already been done and the following principles and operational guidelines are presented to begin the process.
There has been a tendency for men working in the field to change traditional definitions of masculinity to include the development of perpetrators' programs on their social change agenda. Some men become 'therapists' in programs without the necessary training or experience. In addition to the usual requirements for evaluation of programs, perpetrators' programs should ensure that: