Acting Out: Using Drama to Confront Male Stereotypes and Fantasies
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059304000302 |
| Date | 01 October 1993 |
| Published date | 01 October 1993 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
127
Acting
Out:
Using
Drama
to
Confront
Male
Stereotypes
and
Fantasies
Philip
Moore
of
West
Cumbria
Probation
Resource
Centre
describes
the
application
of
South
American
Forum
Theatre
techniques
to
work
on
issues
of
domestic
violence,
family
conflict
and
perceptions
of
women,
in
a
self-control
and
communications
skills
course
for
men.
rama
is
such
a
normal
thing.
It
has
been
made
into
an
abnormal
thing
by
all
the
fussy
leotards,
hair-
dos
and
stagecraft
that
is
associated
with
it
...
Dramatic
work
is
undervalued
because
in
the
present
age
the
conventionally
accep-
table
view
of
situations
seems
more
stable
and
less
disturbing.’
In
this
quotation,
Heathcote
highlights
two
of
the
main
reasons
why
a
significant
number
of
probation
practitioners
and
managers
may
be
suspicious
of
the
claims
of
those
who
use
drama
in
a
probation
set-
ting.
Langley’
identifies
a
third:
’We
seem
to
be
bound
to
the
idea
that
medicine
must
be
unpleasant
to
be
any
good
and
the
thought
of
having
An
presupposes
that
dramatherapy
is
not
’in-
depth’
but
simply
an
activity
to
pass
the
time.’
The
following
is
an
account
of
how
using
drama
with
offenders
has
been
adapted
to
the
particular
venue
of
a
probation
resource
cen-
tre
in
West
Cumbria.
Drama
is
the
primary
working
method
for
the
Self-Control
and
Communication
Skills
Course.
’A
few
leaders
in
the
Probation
Service
are
recognising
that
here
is
an
approach
which
might
enable
both
those
on
pro-
bation
and
officers
to
grasp
and
sort
out
difficulties
more
readily
and
effectively
than
they
are
able
to
do
in
the
straightfor-
ward
interview’.
This
observation
was
made
in
1966
regar-
ding
drama
work
with
offenderS3.
It
must
be
assumed
that
this
early
interest
achieved
only
brief
’flavour
of
the
month’
status,
as
little
connecting
probation
work
and
drama
or
dramatherapy
has
emerged
from
this
era,
or
subsequently,
until
a
comparatively
recent
resurgence.
Dran1a’s Enduring Strength
From
earliest
times
drama
has
been
a
fundamental
expression
of
the
human
con-
dition
as
represented
in
the
dance/dramas
of
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