Men Stopping Violence
Dick Bathrick, Acting Executive Director
Jane Branscomb, Development and PR Director (She's the one I interviewed)
1020 DeKalb Ave., No. 25
Atlanta, Ga. 30307
404-688-1376

Dick Bathrick and Gus Kaufman Jr., two therapists who worked with male batterers, had an unusual and creative idea back in 1982 that led directly to this highly innovative and effective program, with which both men remain associated to this day.

Recognizing an inherent conflict between the gender issues surrounding battering and their firm belief that there was value in men working together with other men to deal with their violence toward women, they approached Kathleen Carlin, then director of a Cobb County battered women's shelter, and proposed that they work together to create a program for men who batter. Bathrick and Kaufman would agree to work under Carlin's supervision, holding lesson sessions for men that would be taped, and the tapes reviewed by Carlin and other women, who would review, challenge, and point out directions for change.

It may have seemed like a vaguely radical idea at the time, male professionals working under a woman director, but the system worked so well that the classes continue to this day, surviving Carlin's recent death; and the group is looking for a new executive director while Bathrick fills in for the interim; they say they're not worrying too much about the gender of the right candidate.

MSV takes two fundamental approaches to battering, Branscomb says: Direct services, in the form of the regular, ongoing classes for men; and advocacy and public education, in the form of activities aimed at keeping the public aware of the issue and its policy implications.

A half-dozen classes are ongoing at any time, offering a variety of dates and schedules to make it easy for men to take part. Each has a pair of co-instructors, one of them often being a member of MSV's one-year internship program. The classes last for 24 weeks (except for one pilot program in a rural county that goes on for 36), and entry is on a "rolling" basis, that is, any given class will include some men who've been participating for months and others who are new to the program. The idea behind this is peer support and learning from each other, putting more experienced participants in the position of reinforcing their knowledge by passing on what they've learned. A maximum of 12 men is allowed in each class, but they generally run a little less than full; Branscomb estimates that 50 men are participating in the program at any time, a total of about 100 per year. Fees are based on ability to pay, with "scholarships" available for those who have no resources.

Men may enter the class by referral from an agency or the courts or by self-referral; they're united, Branscomb said, by "having suffered some kind of consequences revealing a problem," ranging from a therapist's advice or the wife threatening to leave to actual arrest and charges. Men come to the program through orientation classes held every other week, and are then interviewed by the instructor who'll be teaching their class. In order to gain acceptance, the man must acknowledge that he has a problem and shows a commitment to change. Even if a court has ordered his participation, he won't be accepted without this acknowledgement and commitment. Further, MSV won't allow its program to serve as an "out" to get men out of the legal consequences of their battering; in fact, men facing charges must plead GUILTY, and accept whatever punishment the court decrees, in order to be eligible for the program.

One key principle that should be kept in mind is this: Despite what some might consider appearances, the ultimate purpose of the program is not to convert men from batterers into model citizens; it is to protect women from battering. If a man fails the course but goes to jail for his crime, that's not a failure but a success.

In its advocacy and education efforts, MSV conducts speaking engagements for community organizations and provides more specific training for professional groups under contract. In one particularly effective initiative, it developed an anti-violence curriculum to be taught to every prison inmate in Georgia, and trained every prison counselor in the state in its use.

It also holds an annual three-day statewide training session for professionals in Atlanta every spring; this year's session drew a crowd of 90. Among other innovative approaches, it is working with a rural community west of Atlanta (using a grant from the Centers for Disease Control) to come up with an "integrated response to battering" that involves local government and community organizations and MSV's classes.

Its Violence Prevention Mentoring Project brings together adolescent boys with men in the classes in the hope of communicating an anti-violence message to the younger men in a way that will get their attention. And the Community Restitution Program offers an opportunity for men who've successfully completed the classes to maintain contact and participate in other activities.

MSV is housed in a sturdy if somewhat grimy two-story building that Inman Park United Methodist Church makes available to progressive non-profits. It is far and away the largest organization in the building, with a staff of 14 and an annual budget of about $300,000, which comes in about equal parts from grants, service and contracting fees, and the Centers for Disease Control grant.

All the feature stories on @GRASS-ROOTS.ORG's pages are reported and written by Robin Garr, a prize-winning journalist who has visited more than 500 innovative grassroots programs in all 50 states since 1990.

Browse his book, Reinvesting In America, at Amazon.com.

Send him E-mail.

Back to the @GRASS-ROOTS.ORG Home Page