Control of the Self: Partner-Violent Men’s Experience of Therapy

Abstract

This study explores the experience of men who participated in programs for partner-violent men by understanding their perceptions of the treatment process, the treatment outcomes, and the meaning they attached to it. The sample included 25 men who completed these programs in agencies that specialized in treating domestic violence in Israel. A qualitative methodology was used to collect and analyze the data. The findings revealed that most of the men experienced therapy as positive and meaningful and underwent personal changes, especially the acquisition of self-control. Deeper analysis of the data, however, shows that the men still used a power scheme in understanding and creating relationships with others, especially with their woman partner. The findings are discussed in light of the complex and contradictory impact of the treatment process as it appears in the participants' experiences and in the meaning they attached to it.

Social and Health Care Professionals’ Views on Responsible Agency in the Process of Ending Intimate Partner Violence

“…As noted in studies on treating partner-violent men (Lawson et al, 2012;Shamai & Buchbinder 2009), violence intervention work must target battering men's attributions of responsibility and change them. Research (Henning et al, 2005;Stosny, 2005) has revealed that perpetrators use various excuses, justifications, rationalizations and explanations in order to minimize violence or to deny responsibility for their violence and to project responsibility for violent episodes, as well as for solutions, onto others.…”

“…The research on programs for partner-violent men reveals that the most important personal change in therapy is the acquisition of self-control and the ability to make non-violent choices (Shamai & Buchbinder, 2009). In addition, it has been noticed that the professionals are assigned a powerful position in producing the change, as they are perceived as having the knowledge to solve the problem.…”

Intervención psicológica en la comunidad en hombres condenados por violencia de género

“…En referencia al contexto, habrá que considerar también como un elemento relevante las actitudes y las creencias que poseen los terapeutas que realizan los programas y los diferentes agentes implicados (Cubells, Calsamiglia y Albertín, 2010;Ferrer, Bosch, Navarro, Ramis y García, 2008). De la misma forma, habrá que ampliar las estrategias de evaluación para que ofrezcan una información cualitativamente diferente y permitan una valoración más global del impacto de los tratamientos y del riesgo para la victima (Buchbinder y Eisikovits, 2008;Shamai y Buchbinder, 2010).…”

Male Perpetrators, the Gender Symmetry Debate, and the Rejection–Abuse Cycle

“…Treatment of perpetrators has concentrated mainly on the goal of changing men's cognitions, emotions, and behaviors that are associated with interpersonal conflict through two types of groups: (a) those that focus on stimulating new attitudes toward violence and the power that they as men hold over women, inspired by the feminist perspective and often referred to as the Duluth model; and (b) those that focus on the cognitive-behavioral skills related to anger management, including managing internal dialogue, monitoring signs that often precede violence, and practicing skills to control violence inspired by cognitivebehavioral therapy (CBT; Shamai & Buchbinder, 2010).…”