Issues Paper 4.docx

Issues Paper 4.docx

《Issues Paper 4.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Issues Paper 4.docx（45页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

IssuesPaper4

IssuesPaper4–2001

Workingwithwomen:

Exploringindividualandgroupworkapproaches

DrLesleyLaing

Introduction

Thisissuespaperexploresindividualandgroupworkapproachestointerventionwithwomensubjectedtoviolenceandabuseintheirintimaterelationships.Thereisconsiderabledebate,particularlyamongstfeministpractitioners,abouttheuseandmeaningoftermssuchas‘counselling’and‘therapy’todescribethetypesofinterventionswhichcomprisemuchofthefocusofthispaper.Somepractitionersregardtheuseofsuchtermsasinappropriatefordescribingtheempoweringpracticetheyengageinwithindividualwomen,whileothersaremorecomfortableindefiningtheirworkwithwomenwithinaframeworkofcounselling/therapy.Thisdilemmaaboutterminologyreflectssomeofthedebatesandcontroversieswhicharecanvassedinthispaper.Hencetheterms‘practice’and‘intervention’areusedwherepossibletotalkaboutworkingwithwomenaffectedbydomesticviolence,becausethesetermsarebroaderthantheterms‘counselling’and‘therapy’,andcanthereforemorefullyencompassthedimensionsofworkingwithwomen.

Inpreparingthispaper,itbecameclearthattheliteratureonworkingwithmenwhoperpetrateviolence,andonworkingwithchildrenwholivewithviolence,israpidlyincreasing.However,muchlessisbeingwrittenaboutworkingwithwomen,otherthanintheirroleasmothersofchildrenwhohavelivedwithviolence1.Onereasonforthisliesinthehistoryoftherecognitionofdomesticviolenceasaserioussocialproblem.Thispaperbegins,therefore,withadiscussionofthishistoricalcontextanditsroleinshapingideasabouttheroleofcounselling/therapyinresponsestowomensubjectedtoviolenceintheirintimaterelationships.

Therecognitionofdomesticviolenceasaserioussocialproblemisanachievementofsecondwavefeminism,asocialmovementoriginatinginthelate1960sandearly1970s.Feministactivistsprovidedsafetyandshelterforwomenandchildrenescapingviolence,andlocatedtherootsofdomesticviolenceingenderinequalityinsocialrelationships.Thisformulationchallengedtheexistingmedicalmodelwhichlocatedthecausesofdomesticviolencewithinthepathologyofindividualmenandwomen.Fromafeministperspective,womenescapingviolencewereinneed,notofcounsellingortherapy,butoflegalredressforcrimescommittedagainstthem,andofaccesstoincomesupport,housingandotherresourcestoenablethemtoestablishlivesfreeofviolenceandabuse.Thelongertermsolutionstoviolenceagainstwomenlayinthereformofgenderrelationsandmeasuresthatfosteredwomen’ssocialandeconomicautonomy.

Giventhishistoricalcontext,reservationsaboutthecontributionofcounsellingortherapytoworkingwithwomen,areunderstandable.Carlson（1997）identifiesfourconcernsunderlyingthesereservations.Firstly,offeringcounsellingmayimplythatthewomanhaspre-existingpersonalitydeficitswhichsomehowcontributedtohervictimisation.Hencethereisadangerthatcounsellingresponsesmayperpetuatevictim-blamingandobscuretheresponsibilityofperpetrators.Secondly,manywomenreportjudgementalandunhelpfulcontactswithmentalhealthandothertherapeuticserviceproviders.Thirdly,theinherentpowerimbalanceinthetherapeuticencounterreplicatesthepowerimbalanceintheabusiverelationship,andthuscreatesaproblematiccontextforfacilitatingempowerment.Finallyitisarguedthatthefocusofeffortstoaddressdomesticviolencemustbeonchangingthesystems–economic,health,legalandwelfare–whichfailtoprovideabusedwomenandchildrenwiththeresourcestheyrequiretolivesafely.

Analternativeviewisthatlivingwithabuseandviolenceunderaregimeofcoercivecontrolcanhaveseriouseffectsonwomen,andthatcounsellingcan

playaroleinassistingwomentoovercometheseeffects（Styles,1991）.ThisviewissupportedbytwoAustralianresearchprojectswhichexploredtheneedsofwomenaffectedbydomesticviolence（Bagshaw,Chung,Couch,Lilburn,&Wadham,2000;KeysYoung,1998）.Bothfoundthatwomenexpressedaneedforemotionalsupport,toassistinovercomingtheimpactoftheirexperiencesofabuse.

Peopletellstoriesdifferently,atdifferentstagesoftheirexperience.Icantalktoyouaboutthisnowwithoutshaking.ButIcouldn’thavedonethisayearagowithoutshaking.Ineededspecialisthelp.Ineededtotrustpeopleagain.（survivorcitedinKeysYoung,1998,p.61）

Itisimportanttonotethatthesharingofexperiences,andthelinkingofwomen’sexperienceswiththeexperiencesofotherwomen,wasanimportantpartoftheworkofthewomen’srefugemovement.Forthefirsttimewomenwereabletotalkabouttheabuseandviolationtowhichtheyhadbeensubjected,tobelistenedto,tobebelieved,andtofindthattheywerenotalone.Inthisapproachlaythefoundationsofgroupwork,whichcontinuestobebyfarthemostcommonformofinterventionwithwomenaffectedbydomesticviolence.

Itisnowrecognisedthatlivingwithviolence,abuseandcontrollingbehaviourscanseverelyimpactonwomen’smentalhealth（Herman,1992;Laffan,2001;Roberts,Lawrence&Williams,1998）.Inordertoaccessassistanceforwomen,refugesareincreasinglyattemptingtodeveloplinkswithmentalhealthservices,althoughthedifferent‘cultures’ofeachservicesystemcanpresentformidablechallengestodevelopingapproacheswhichmeettheneedsofabusedwomen（Incoll,2000;Shelton-Bunn,2001）.

Itappearsthen,thattheissueislessaboutwhetherornotthereisaroleforcounselling/therapy,thanaboutthetypeofpracticewhichisengagedinwhenworkingwithwomen,whetherthiscontactwithwomeniscalled‘counselling’,‘therapy’,‘support’,or‘advocacy’（atermwidelyusedintheUnitedStates）.PracticeinworkingwithwomenneedstoavoidthepitfallsidentifiedbyCarlson:

‘pathologising’thewoman,assumingthat‘counselling’aloneisasufficientresponsetodomesticviolence,orfailingtolocateresponsibilityfortheviolencewiththeperpetrator.Avoidingpitfallsuchastheserequiresawarenessofthevaluesandperspectivesunderlyingandinformingpracticesinworkingwithwomen.

Thebroaderemphasisonpracticeandtheattentiontothevaluesandperspectivesunderlyingthispractice,makeitpossibletoincludeinthisdiscussionotherimportantdimensionstoworkingwithwomenaffectedbydomesticviolence.Forexample,manyserviceproviderswhocomeintocontactwithabusedwomen,whilenotinaformalorstructured‘counselling’role,canneverthelessplayaninvaluable

roleincounteringtheself-blameandisolationimposedbytheperpetrator.Thisisseeninastudyofabusedwomen’scontactwiththehealthsystem.Gerbertetal.（1999）identifiedtheimportancetothewomenofinteractionscharacterisedbyanon-judgementalattitudeandcaringmanneronthepartofthehealthcareprovider:

Thewomen...describedhow（withorwithoutdirectidentificationordisclosure）validationfromahealthcareproviderhad“plantedaseed”,leadingtoturningpointsorepiphaniesintheirrelationshipswiththeabusers.Validationservedtoslightlyshifttheirmentallandscape,whichintimehelpedthemtoseetherelationshipandthemselvesdifferently.（Gerbertetal.,1999,p.130）

Suchinterventionscaninfactbeveryinfluentialinawoman’sunderstandingofissuesofresponsibilityandinherassessmentofpotentialresourcesinherattemptstodealwiththeviolenceshefaces.

Centraltothedebateaboutpracticewithwomen,isthefactthatdomesticviolenceisatthesametime,bothapersonalproblemandasocialissue:

Becauseviolenceagainstwomenissodeeplyembeddedintheinstitutionalfabricofsociety,wifeabuseisbothasocialproblemandapersonalissue,asitisperpetratedbymenagainstwomenintheirsociallocationsaswivesand/orintimatepartners.Asasocialproblem,itcanbeviewedasapointofconvergenceofbroaderpatternsofeconomic,social,andpoliticaldiscriminationagainstwomen.（Lempert,1996,p.269）

Thisraisesdilemmasanddebatesaboutatwhichlevel–theindividualorthesocial–tobestfocusourinterventions.Doesworkingwithindividualwomenre-privatiseandhidetheissueofdomesticviolenceasasocialproblem?

Ontheotherhand,doeschangeatthesocialandpoliticallevelreachdowntoimprovethesituationofindividualwomen?

Thewomen’srefugemovementdevelopedaformofinterventionwhichencompassedbothlevelsofintervention,capturedsuccinctlyintheslogan:

‘thepersonalispolitical’.AsWensingexplains:

‘…weseeourworkinthecommunityasbeingasimportantasourworkwithinservices.’（2001）

Dilemmasaboutthelevelatwhichtofocusinterventiondonotjustarisewithrespecttocounsellinginterventions.Similardilemmashavebeenidentified,forexample,withlegalinterventionssuchas‘evidencebased’or‘nodrop’prosecutions2wherecriminalproceedingsagainstaperpetratorofviolencemayproceedagainsttheexpresswishesofthewoman.WhilesomesupportsuchpoliciesonthegroundsthattheyensurethattheStatetreatsdomesticviolenceasaseriouscrime（socialchange）,othersarguethatsuchpoliciesaredisempoweringtoindividualwomenandincreasethedangertowomenfromdisadvantagedsocialgroups（Mills,1999）.

MelanieShepard（1999,p.120）fromtheDuluthprogramprovidesanexampleofthistensionbetweendifferentlevelsofintervention:

‘Advocateshavearguedforpolicyreforms（e.g.,prosecutionofcases）onlytoturnaroundandaskforexceptionsforindividualbatteredwomen.’

Thenextsectionofthisissuespaperoutlinessomecompetingviewsaboutwomenwhoexperience