NCJ Number
97425
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
The first section of this film considers the extent, seriousness, and dynamics of wife battering, as well as societal responses to it. The second portion of the film examines factors that prompt abusers to seek help and the benefits abusers can derive from group therapy.
Abstract
Much of the film consists of comments by former clients of Emerge, a Boston organization that provides group therapy and individual counseling for batterers as well as abuse prevention through community education. The first section of the film uses descriptions of incidents of serious abuse by former Emerge clients, a reenactment of police responding to a domestic disturbance call, photographs of battered women along with statistics, and on-the-street interviews. The film demonstrates the following: wife battering is prevalent in the United States, occurring in all economic classes and ethnic groups; physical abuse is an outgrowth of the batterer's need to control the victim; couples often try to keep the abuse a family secret; few of those who contact the problem are willing to help in finding a solution; and societal norms and institutions sanction male violence against females. In the second portion of the film, an Emerge counselor and former client discuss factors that prompt abusers to seek help, including the victim's leaving or threatening to leave them and a restraining order. Three former clients of Emerge discuss their experiences in group counseling as including (1) being able to talk more openly with other men, (2) discovering and expressing their feelings, (3) realizing the ways in which they had controlled their partners, and (4) taking responsibility for their actions. The former Emerge clients appearing in the film have not abused their wives in 2 years since completing the program.