Who Supports the Workers?
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300303 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
132
Who
Supports
the
Workers?
Charlotte
Knight,
a
Lecturer
in
Social
Work
at
De
Montfort
University,
Leicester,
reflects
on
the
demands
placed
on
workers
engaged
in
group
work
with
perpetrators
of
domestic
violence,
and
considers
ways
in
which
they
might
be
better
supported
and
enabled
to
carry
out
this
particular
area
of
work
with
offenders.
orking
with
the
perpetrators
V
V
of
domestic
violence
can
be
particularly
difficult
for
the
workers
concerned,
not
least
because
of
the
patriarchal
social
structures
and
traditions
that
define
the
roles
of
men
and
women
in
society.
These
structures
can
support
and
condone
some
of
the
belief
systems
and
behaviours
of
the
men
who
resort to
violence
towards
their
partners.
By
its
very
nature,
the
structural
oppression
of
women
is
reinforced
and
perpetuated
through
many
forms
of
institutional
and
personal
transaction.
Workers
wishing
to
challenge
the
behaviour
of
men
who
commit
violence
against
their
partners,
have
to
tackle
the
deeply
entrenched
belief
systems
and
ideologies
that
hold
this
behaviour
in
place.
It
is
of
crucial
importance,
therefore,
that
both
male
and
female
workers
have
a
clear
understanding
of
each
other’s
perspectives
and
values,
and
are
able
to
be
both
supportive
and
challenging
towards
one
another
The
nature
and
experience
of
co-working
assumes
greater
importance
m
this
area
of
work
than
perhaps
any
other.
’Vorking with Life
Sentence Prisoners
As
part
of
the
partnership
arrangement
between
De
Montfort
University
and
the
Leicestershire
Probation
Service,
I
was
asked
to
act
as
a
consultant
to
the
probation
team
at
Gartree
prison
in
their
plans
to
develop
a
group
work
programme
for
men
serving
life
sentences
for
killing
their
female
partners.
The
idea
for
this
work
had
been
discussed
for
some
time
within
the
team
with
an
awareness
that
the
current
range
of
group
work
available
to
prisoners,
whilst
havmg
some
applicability,
for
example
anger
management,
did
not
address
the
central
issue
of
why
men
were
violent
to
their
female
partners.
Some
of
the
time
taken
in
the
planning
related
to
obvious
factors
to
do
with
time
constraints,
demands
of daily
work,
and
changes
of
staff.
However,
the
team
acknowledged
that
another,
less
tangible
issue,
related
to
how
they,
as
an
all white
team,
comprising
three
and
then
four
female
probation
officers,
two
male
probation
officers
and
a
female
senior
probation
officer
might
work
together
on
this
complex
and
difficult
area
of
offending
behaviour,
in
an
institution
that
represented
many
aspects
of
male
behaviour
that
they
wanted
to
challenge.
I
met
with
the
team
initially
to
explore
ideas,
expectations,
hopes
and
fears
and
then
for
a
half
day
workshop
to
examine
attitudes
and
beliefs
about
male/female
behaviour
and
male
violence.
I
was
subsequently
involved
in
a
pre-course
meeting,
a
review
meeting
immediately
after
the
course
and
an
evaluation
meeting
three
months
after
the
first
course
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