What do you think?
Rate this book
The Violence of Men: New Techniques for Working with Abusive Families: A Therapy of Social Action
A Step-by-Step Guide for Working with Violent Clients
Renowned family therapist Cloe Madanes presents a therapy of socialaction, a proven model of therapeutic intervention developed forprofessionals who work with violent men. At the very heart of thisapproach is the conviction that the offAnder is fully responsiblefor his actions. As evidence of this core belief, a therapy ofsocial action requires the offAnder to acknowledge his violentactions, demonstrate authentic repentance, make amAnds to thevictim, and find acceptable alternative behaviors.
Renowned family therapist Cloe Madanes presents a therapy of socialaction, a proven model of therapeutic intervention developed forprofessionals who work with violent men. At the very heart of thisapproach is the conviction that the offAnder is fully responsiblefor his actions. As evidence of this core belief, a therapy ofsocial action requires the offAnder to acknowledge his violentactions, demonstrate authentic repentance, make amAnds to thevictim, and find acceptable alternative behaviors.
- GenresSocial WorkPsychology
236 pages, Hardcover
First published August 9, 1995
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 13, 2013
Cloe gives case histories in detail to support her idea that given a suitable approach that takes into account context (mostly family) and need to take responsibility, sexually abusive and violent men can learn and be helped and can avoid repeat offending.
Her intro and first chapter speaking about the assumptions of humanistic psychology was interesting to me but anyone with a clinical background would I guess not find it new, and similarly her ideas around the need for family involvement and acceptance of responsibility. What may be of more interest to people already familiar with family therapy are her ideas and methods for using the family to help achieve this, her insistence on and methods for ensuring genuine apology and restorative actions. I was impressed and surprised at the evidence that one could insist upon and expect to get all this even if the client was not looking like they could or would do any of them.
I would certainly recommend this to anyone working with violent or abusive men or their families. I love that she provided specifics of the interventions and their consequences and even more impressed that she provided a breakdown of the results of all they cases they dealt with.
The directive approach was key - it was clear the interventions were guided by the therapist as against tradition therapy where the client is allowed to lead. Getting family involved is obviously a key approach of Cloe's both in the sessions and outside them. Where family isn't possible she uses substitutes. The mentoring of her staff was also interesting as was the way she picked up subtle "errors" in what they did. Also her idea that actions can cause "spiritual" damage, especially abuse within families, was interesting. I'm reminded of a quote from Crowley "The method of science, the goal of religion."
Her intro and first chapter speaking about the assumptions of humanistic psychology was interesting to me but anyone with a clinical background would I guess not find it new, and similarly her ideas around the need for family involvement and acceptance of responsibility. What may be of more interest to people already familiar with family therapy are her ideas and methods for using the family to help achieve this, her insistence on and methods for ensuring genuine apology and restorative actions. I was impressed and surprised at the evidence that one could insist upon and expect to get all this even if the client was not looking like they could or would do any of them.
I would certainly recommend this to anyone working with violent or abusive men or their families. I love that she provided specifics of the interventions and their consequences and even more impressed that she provided a breakdown of the results of all they cases they dealt with.
The directive approach was key - it was clear the interventions were guided by the therapist as against tradition therapy where the client is allowed to lead. Getting family involved is obviously a key approach of Cloe's both in the sessions and outside them. Where family isn't possible she uses substitutes. The mentoring of her staff was also interesting as was the way she picked up subtle "errors" in what they did. Also her idea that actions can cause "spiritual" damage, especially abuse within families, was interesting. I'm reminded of a quote from Crowley "The method of science, the goal of religion."
Displaying 1 of 1 review