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PROGRESS REPORT ON... partner abuse

Jan Robson

Coordinator, Shifting Gears Program (Abbotsford Community Services)
Co-Chair, B.C. Association of Counsellors of Abusive Men

The last decade has seen numerous advances in what is still a very young field. What was a very private matter thirty years ago isnow the subject of a great deal of research, program initiatives, and formal governmental policy. Although resources available remain insufficient to adequately address the problem, the number of group programs has multiplied in the last ten years. Along with these groups, and the work being done with women and children who have been victimized, coordinating committees have sprung up in many communities. These committees have made significant inroads by facilitating communication amongst the various players dealing with different aspects of the problem.

Very gradually judges and other participants in the criminal justice system are beginning to recognize that "anger management" and "assaultive men's treatment" are two different things. Much more education needs to be done, however, to clarify this distinction.

In my opinion, the last ten years have also witnessed a move away from reliance on monolithic models for men's groups to a greater eclecticism. Concurrently, various jurisdictions across North America have begun to recognize the need for practice standards. B.C. has been a forerunner in this respect, issuing a set of Guiding Principles in 1992.

The last few years have also seen researchers and practitioners beginning to study men's transition from violence to nonviolence in terms of stages. In particular, the trans-theoretical model of change (Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992) has stimulated thought, some research, and some attempts to incorporate ways of streaming men into different groups based on their readiness to change. This is an area that bears further research.

A few "hot topics" come to mind. Probably the most contentious, even amongst practitioners in the field, is female violence and mutual violence. The men's rights movement, and what I see as the de-emphasis of the feminist perspective, are part and parcel of this issue. The challenge is how to study female violence, and take it seriously, without minimizing men's violence and the power dynamics that continue to exist in our society. In my opinion, this challenge has not been met to date.

Another hot topic is a big issue in B.C. right now. Just when the field appears to be acknowledging that there is no one approach that will work with all men, this province seems to be moving towards the opposite. The Corrections Branch Core Programs initiative has as its goal a standardized format to be used by all programs in the province. In my opinion, this flies in the face of the progress made in this area to date.

Funding continues to be problematic, in B.C. as well as in other provinces. Most, if not all, programs are run on a contract basis. This raises the yearly spectre of contract renewal (hopefully!), in a manner that, at the minimum, allows for the continuation of the program. Too often, funds are slashed and programs must scramble, often compromising principles of good practice in the interests of fiscal viability. This is a challenge that is not going away.

A fruitful area for program development in the near future is with young people. Respectful relationship skills need to be taught as early as possible. Preferably this would be done in the home, but given what we know of the incidence of violence the school will probably need to assume this responsibility. This is already being done in many jurisdictions, but it is far from universal. It is one more task that the schools do not need, but the costs when they fail to do it are enormous. Funding specific practitioners to do this work in all junior high schools would require significant funding at the outset, but savings likely would be seen down the road.