Situations and Representations: Feminist Practice with Survivors of Male Violence

Abstract

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).

Narrative Healing among Victims of Violence: The Impact of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission

“…That the respondents reported cathartic and healing benefits from telling their story to the gtrC is consistent with previous research on narrative interventions with victims of violence and persecution (Cienfuegos & Monelli 1983;Malpede, 1999;neimeyer & stewart, 1996;neuner, schauer, elbert, & roth, 2002;neuner et al, 2004;neuner et al, 2008;Peltzer, 1999;Weine et al, 1998;Wood & roche, 2001). This research builds upon the idea that articulating trauma can have benefits for victims.…”

“…Psychological trauma, while complex, entails disempowerment and disconnection from others (herman, 1997). narrative therapy has been applied to social work practice with survivors of male violence, where victims' previously silenced voices are authenticated by radical listening, abuses are validated by bearing witness, and performing stories before supportive audiences legitimates authentication and validation (Wood & roche, 2001).…”

Between the Professional and the Private

“…Hence, intervention with abused women validates one of the basic feminist assumptions about women treating women: This is an encounter between women who have a common denominator as women, who share the same societal and cultural context in relation to gender and power (Wood & Roche, 2001). Frequently, the workers' expectations from their clients and themselves intertwine.…”

One Story at a Time

“…Recently, however, the use of narrative therapy has expanded to include other populations. For example, narrative therapy has been used to encourage dialogue about depression and other illnesses and has shown positive results for promoting resiliency (Focht & Beardslee, 1996), it has been used with survivors (Wood & Roche, 2001) and perpetrators (Augusta-Scott & Dankwort, 2002) of violence, and, from a feminist perspective, it has been used to support women to challenge sexist discourses such as the "beauty myth" (Lee, 1997). Narrative therapy has also demonstrated its usefulness in cross-cultural and multicultural counseling including Biever, Bobele, and North's (1998) work with intercultural couples and Murphy-Shigematsu's (2000) work with minorities in Japan.…”