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Blame surrounds and embeds male violence against women, acting as oppressive propaganda that shapes survivors’ identities, which, in turn, reduce their options. This article challenges the notion that violence against women renders women passive and precludes their resistance. It describes a narrative practice principle—coconstructing women’s new identity stories—to guide social work in countering this propaganda with women survivors of male violence. Blame is addressed as a cultural narrative within which some women are targeted by male violence and all women construct their identities. As a feminist social work principle, coconstructing women’s new identity stories connects the political and the individual facets of male violence, expanding women’s options for action. Specifically, the article presents the principle and three processes for translating it into action.

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Battering is part of a pattern of coercive tactics, including verbal, psychological, and sexual abuse, that a man uses to intimidate, undermine, and force his female partner to comply with his wishes. The experience can be likened to brainwashing. Three sets of ideas seem important for feminist social workers to consider in working with such women: (1) a structural approach to practice; (2) empowerment through recasting perceptions, raising consciousness, and increasing access to opportunities and resources; and (3) using the small group as a supportive agency.

FOUR MILLION WOMEN ARE BATTERED every year, one every 9 seconds, 2 million of whom are beaten severely (World Health Organization, 1995). One out of three American women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, at a rate of over 700,000 women annually. One out of every two women will be sexually harassed in her academic or working life (Paludi & Barickman, 1991). Male violence against women and teenage girls is so widespread that social workers in every practice setting come into contact with survivors, whether they realize it or not.Current agency practice with individual survivors of male violence implies that they are somehow psychologically or emotionally impaired. At best, this response employs the notion of trauma, and at worst, the notion of psychiatric disorder. Moreover, To meet legislative mandates and fiscal priorities, many institutions require employees to reinterpret individuals' descriptions of their situations and needs.... Specifically, they confine social workers within ... [theoretical] boundaries that determine what is real (e.g., deficits, pathology, and criminality), what is unreal or tangential (e.g., victimization, coping, and anything nonreimbursable), and what constitutes good practice (e.g., professional as expert, expertise as absolute).