What does a stopping violence programme look like?
In honour of White Ribbon NZ this November, RISE is doing a month-long series of articles, videos, and Facebook posts to address one question we often get asked: Do stopping violence courses work? Follow the series through November here on our website, on our Facebook page, and on YouTube.
This is the second article in the series. Read the first article in the series.
You may be familiar with the term ‘stopping violence course’ but at RISE, we prefer another name. Our Non-Violence Programme is meant to take the emphasis off the expectation that one course is going to stop a person from using violence forever. That expectation is unrealistic. There, we said it.
And yet it’s true that many of RISE’s clients go through the programme once and we never see them again. They leave with tools and skills to help them make life-long changes. Only a small percentage of former clients, like those most people read about in the majority of dramatic headlines, find the programme to be the start of a very long and difficult process.
So what does the programme look like and why do some succeed and others fail? Let’s answer the first question this week. (We’ll answer the second question over the next two weeks.)
Assessment and orientation
Prior to officially starting a group programme, a new client has a one-on-one assessment with a RISE clinician. It could last up to five one-hour sessions but often ends in two or three. They discuss the incident that brought them to RISE, a timeline of activities that happened around the incident, what the client would like to get out of the group programme, and other background information.
Sometimes in these sessions a clinician can identify earlier traumatic experiences such as childhood abuse or violence that the client has experienced, which is a likely factor in their own behaviour. The clinician notes this down so the group programme co-facilitators have this information if it comes up in group discussions.
Following the assessment, a monthly orientation welcomes new group attendees before they officially join in on weekly group sessions.
Structure of the group programme
Our Non-Violence Programme is approved by the Ministry for Justice and the Department of Corrections, as well as the Ministry of Social Development. We are the only organisation in the top of the South Island delivering a programme that is funded and supported by the ministries. It takes place as a group programme of up to 12 people who meet in 2.5-hour weekly sessions over 16 weeks. Two RISE clinicians co-facilitate each group. One co-facilitator is always a male and one is always a female so the groups are co-gendered, with both genders represented in discussion. The curriculum is broken into four modules, each lasting four weeks.
A new client enters the group programme at the start of one of the four modules. It’s a rolling group membership where some members finish at the end of each module and others start. When new members start the group, they are joining a group that has members who have already completed some of the modules, but clients can learn the modules in any order.
Group programmes that operate in this fashion are shown to be highly effective. New members join into a group with others at varying levels of experience with the group. Older members can reach out and help newer members, and those with more experience can be guides to fellow members. Experience tells us that it is highly effective for members to help each other and hold each other accountable rather than the co-facilitators always directing activity and discussion.
Module 1: Self-awareness and beliefs
The concept of self-awareness is a critical component of the programme. Clinicians believe that members who leave the programme with a degree of self-awareness are well-equipped to self-regulate in daily life. Self-awareness means one can consider their own actions in the moment, as well as the actions and experiences of those around them. Without self-awareness, it is difficult to understand personal responsibility and easier to blame others all the time.
Co-facilitators provide an introduction to what violence is from the perspective of the law. They ask group members to share personal examples. Then personal belief systems are explored and discussed, often using current examples from well known stories or the media, like the Will Smith incident at the Oscars.
Everyone has different styles of thinking and after the co-facilitators walk through this, group members discuss their own style. What you think and how you think is important. Are you agitating yourself with a lot of harmful self-talk? Does that self-talk become verbal or physical? How does that escalate? Co-facilitators help challenge unhelpful thinking and discuss how to take statements by others, including partners, less personally. Letting things go, taking time outs or walking away from stressful situations, knowing one’s triggers – these are all tools mentioned in this module.
(Find some of these tools on our website.)
Module 2: Self-management
A good deal of work in this module is concentrated on emotions. Identifying emotions and learning how to notice what’s going on before anger or violence occurs. We discuss anxiety, flight/fight/freeze modes, and talk about the difference between anger and violence.
Many people think a stopping violence course is really an anger management course. This isn’t true but we do examine anger as a component of managing one’s emotions. Group members learn how to identify their high-risk emotions (one of which could be anger) to assess what is bubbling up under the surface at different times. What are the early warning signs? What are the triggers that cause emotions to rise?
Suppressing emotions is also discussed, and it’s not a good thing to do. Expressing emotions is extremely healthy and how a person expresses their emotions is the sign of maturity and the ability to manage oneself without resorting to violence. There are healthy ways to have strong emotions and to express them.
Module 3: Te Whare Tapa Whā
The Māori health model, Te Whare Tapa Whā, is everywhere in RISE’s work with clients. While it is a health model, working with people to make life changes is improving overall health. Developed by Mason Durie, Te Whare Tapa Whā are the four cornerstones of Māori health:
taha wairua (the spiritual dimension)
taha tinana (physical health)
taha whānau (family health)
taha hinengaro (mental health)
(Read more about Te Whare Tapa Whā on our website.)
Should one of the four dimensions be missing or in some way damaged, a person, or a collective may become ‘unbalanced’ and subsequently unwell. We introduce the model in this module, and we often have feedback that it has a lot of impact on people.
As it is a health model, it is when we talk about the use of alcohol and drugs, including normal use, abuse, and addiction. How does one’s use of drugs and alcohol affect his own behaviour and impact on the whānau? What about the long-term effects on everyone?
Personal trauma/intergenerational trauma can come up in this module. We introduce ACEs, which is short for Adverse Childhood Experiences. The UK’s Royal Society for Public Health produced this wonderful video on ACEs that is worth a watch. Group members watch the video and consider the affects of violence on children, and perhaps themselves when they were children. Here we introduce parenting skills and how to build a better future for one’s children – the next generation – in the context of stopping the cycle of violence in one’s family.
Module 4: Relationship skills
Managing all the relationships in one’s life can be daunting. Whether it’s parents, partners, mates, other family, work colleagues, or children, knowing skills for managing relationship can help anyone learn to better navigate through life.
We share a wealth of tools that focus on respect, kindness, learning when to speak and when not to, communication skills, negotiation skills, criticism versus nagging, love languages, and listening skills – to name but a few. All group members are asked to share stories and personal examples both before they started the programme and any success stories they have experienced during the programme, having tried out the tools at home.
Finally, co-facilitators talk about safety from a woman’s perspective and about sexual consent. Perhaps some of the most tense interpersonal exchanges take place around sex, where men and women have different verbal and physical languages.
Finishing
Members depart the group at the end of each module. We farewell them with shared kai and a certificate. A final exit session makes up our ‘Next Steps’ process where we re-visit Te Whare Tapa Whā, discuss where the client is currently at with their relationships, and talk about the strategies they will use to keep themselves and their whānau safe. Safety planning is also part of the final check in as is an emphasis on RISE being here for them at any time.
… Next week
The detailed work that occurs within the programme, though individual for each client, generally follows a cyclical pattern that is common to all types of change. We introduce you to the Cycle of Change, as explained in a video by the wonderful Mark Banks, one of our clinicians and a Non-Violence Programme co-facilitator.
Dr Victor Macgill, RISE Clinician and one of the co-facilitators of the Non-Violence Programme in Nelson and previously in Kaikoura.
Michiel van Boekhout, RISE Clinician and one of the co-facilitators of the Non-Violence Programme in Motueka.
Mark Banks, RISE Clinician and one of the co-facilitators of the Non-Violence Programme in Nelson.