NCJ Number
240507
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 27 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2012 Pages: 465-476
Date Published
July 2012
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper presents findings concerning male worker-client relationships in partner violence.
Abstract
This paper describes the process of change in attitudes of male social workers' towards themselves and towards their clients who are male perpetrators of partner violence (PV). The process reveals a reconstruction of the therapist's beliefs concerning key elements in their work related being, such as masculinity, aggression, perception of their clients and their own male identities. The sample includes 15 male social workers that worked with battering men in social services. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews. The therapists' process of questioning the popular and accepted demonization of violent men clarifies what differentiates them from their clients, but also opens an authentic pathway to examining similarities they share as men, without the need to be politically correct or to conform. The implications for practitioners working in batterers' intervention programs are addressed. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.