Calgary Counselling Centre Suite 200, 940 – 6 th Ave SW Intake Phone: (403) 691-5991

1. Women Who Use Aggression In Intimate Relationships Christine Berry, PsychologistDirector, Family Violence Prevention Initiatives Calgary Counselling Centre Suite 200, 940 – 6th Ave SW Intake Phone: (403) 691-5991 www.calgarycounselling.com

2. Overview of the Presentation • Who is Calgary Counselling Centre? • Why is the issue of women who use aggression so complex? • Responsible Choices for Women (RCW) group program for women who use aggression in intimate relationships • Practice implications and questions

3. Learning Objectives • Become aware of the contentious issues surrounding this population • Identify challenges working with women who use aggression • Provide a specific approach to working with women who use aggression

4. Who is Calgary Counselling Centre? • Registered charitable organization in business since 1962 • Research and Knowledge based Counselling Facility • Recognized leader in the treatment of Family violence

5. Women who use Aggression • Contentious Issues • A Review of Research on Women’s Use of Violence With Male Intimate Partners (Swan, Gambone, Caldwell, 2008)

6. Contentious (con’t) • Women’s violence usually occurs in the context of violence against them by their male partners

7. Contentious con’t • In general, women and men perpetrate equivalent levels of physical and psychological aggression but men perpetrate sexual abuse, coercive control and stalking more frequently than women and women much more frequently injured during domestic violence.

8. Contentious (con’t) • Women and men equally likely to initiate physical violence in relation ships involving less serious situational couple violence and in relationships in which serious and very violent intimate terrorisms occur men more likely to perpetrate

9. Contentious (con’t) • Women’s physical violence is more likely than men’s violence to be motivated by self-defense and fear, whereas men’s physical violence more likely than women’s to be drive by control motives

10. Contentious (con’t) • Couples in mutually violent relationships find more negative effects for women • Because of the many differences in behaviors and motivations between women’s and men’s violence intervention based on male models of partner violence are likely not effective for many women.

11. Women who use aggression • His Violence Her Violence • Physical power Verbal power • Hits Slaps • Punches walls Throws things • Gets in her face Nags • Shoves Pushes • Grabs to restrain Gets in front of door

12. Women who use aggression • Pounds on table Refuses to talk • Yells Sulks • Raises fist Raises knife • Comes home late Locks him out • Cheats Withholds sex • Drinks not to argue Drinks for courage to argue

13. Women who use aggression • Criticizes her all time Insults him in public • Ignores her Makes a scene • Ref: Weaver Manual : Treatment of Women Arrested for Domestic Violence. 2002

14. Continuum of Aggression and Abuse • Common Couple Aggression • Remorse • No fear or injury • Arguments escalate • Could happen in any family

15. Continuum (con’t) • High Conflict • No fear • Anger is an issue • May have sporadic physical aggression or destruction of property • Do not solve problems well • May have remorse • Not emotionally abusive

16. Continuum (con’t) • Abuse • Sporadic physical aggression • Name calling but not character assassination • Apprehension • Verbal abuse • Threats of abandonment • May be remorseful • Aggression takes place without witnesses

17. Continuum (con’t) • Battering • Isolation • Threats • Name calling that attacks character • Regular physical abuse • Threats to kill self or others

18. Continuum con’t Batteringcon’t • Jealousy • Putting down friend and family • Destruction of property • More generally violent • Self absorbed • Change in the personality of the person being abused

19. Continuum (con’t) • Terrorism/Stalking • Monopolization of perception • Insidious psychological abuse • Well-thought out threats to kill • Torture of pets • Extreme isolation • Generally more regular physical abuse but may occur without physical abuse • Sexual humiliation and degradation

20. Women who use aggression • In Calgary, Alberta, Canada , a specialized community court process, HomeFront, was initiated in 2001 to offer low risk accused who were willing to take responsibility for their actions the opportunity to be mandated to treatment.

21. Women who use aggression • Data that looked at different phases of the project from 2001 until present indicated sex of the accused consistently 85 % male, 15 % female. (Tutty, L. Homefront presentation, 2011).

22. Women who use aggression • At least some of those women referred to Calgary Counselling Centre’s Family Violence Prevention Program

23. Women who use aggression • Calgary Counselling Center has offered groups for men who abuse for over 25 years • 1995 began groups for women who abuse and modeled it after men’s groups • Published paper comparing group women mandated and non-mandated 1995 -2008

24. Women who use Agression • A Comparison of Women Who Were Mandated and Non-mandated to the “Responsible Choices for Women” Group

25. Women who use aggression • Nature of the Abuse • Physically abusive behaviors: the most commonly endorsed were: • pushing/shoving (63%), • slapping with an open hand (46.4%), • grabbing (39.5%), and • punching with a closed fist (38.6%). RCW San Diego 2009

26. Women who use Aggression • Nature of the Abuse • The non-mandatedwomen in the RC for Women program were statistically more likely to self report four physically abusive behaviors: • poking, • pushing/shoving, • grabbing, and pulling hair

27. Women who use Aggression • Nature of the Abuse • Psychologically Abusive Behaviours • The most commonly endorsed items were: • name calling (63%) • making degrading/critical comments (58%) • unfair accusations or interrogation (40.3%), & • glaring at partner (40.2%)

28. Women who use Aggression • 1995 - 2008 N= 261 • 58% of the women (156) were self- or counsellor-referred compared to 42% (114 women) who were mandated either by the courts, probation, or child welfare • 2004 -2010 N = 139 • 40.3 (56) self referred and 59.7% of the women (83) were court, probation or child welfare referred

29. Women who use aggression • Challenges when working with this population • Own bias • Not taken seriously • Attendance compliance • Lack of therapy models • Journey to Change • Risk assessment –

30. Women who use aggression • Family Violence Homicide Conference • Link to 2010 conference in Calgary, • Dobash and Dobash Murder in Britian Study

31. Women who use aggression • Challenges (con’t) • “I thought the women would be more open and supportive... I was wrong” • “With men I confronted them without a second thought, with the women confrontations were more indirect, more gentle.”

32. Women who use aggression • Challenges (con’t) • “It was more of a struggle to get the women to take responsibility” • “One client openly stated she didn’t take shit from anyone, her aggressiveness made her who she was… don’t see that ownership in men’s group”

33. Women who use aggression • Program Principles • Respect • Accountability • Safety • Responsibility

34. Goals of RC for Women Program • The primary goal is to assist women who are abusive to become violence free. • decreasing all forms of abusive behaviour; • accepting responsibility for one’s behaviour; • increasing self esteem; • increasing assertive behaviour; • improving family relations; • decreasing stress; • increasing empathy toward those who have been impacted by abusive behaviour; and • assisting parents to cease physically abusing their children.

35. Women who use aggression • Before group- • PAS, URICA • Engagement - Session Rating Scale (SRS) • Level of Distress – OQ 45 - CAGE • Persons who use Aggression in Intimate Relationships • Time Outs • When Contemplative go to group

36. Women who use aggression • 30 hour group • Male/female facilitator team • 10 women in group • 3 partner checks during time of treatment • Pre/Post measures

37. Women who use aggression • Pre only • Trauma Symptom Checklist – 40 (TSCL-40)Briere

38. Women who use aggression • Pre and post • Abuse of Partner Scales: Physical and Non-Physical (Hudson, 1992) • Partner Abuse Scales: Physical and Non-Physical (Hudson, 1992) • Generalized Contentment Scale (Hudson, 1992) • Outcome Questionnaire (OQ 45.2)

39. Women who use aggression • Pre and Post • Fam –III Dyadic Relationship Scale • The University of Rhode Island Change Assessment – Domestic Violence (URICA-DV) • Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Test Short Form (Reynolds, 1982)

40. Women who use Aggression • Rosenberg Self-Esteem Index (Rosenberg, 1965) • The Personality Assessment Screener • Index of Clinical Stress (Hudson, 1992)

41. Women who use Aggression • Key Themes • Safety Checks all sessions • Operationalize Abuse and violence in intimate relationships • - House of Abuse • Taking Responsibility • Turning Points Women who Abuse. video

42. Women who use Aggression Themes (Con’t) • Owning and Dealing with anger and abuse in conflict situations- • Responsibility Logs • Challenging beliefs • Gender

43. Women who use aggression • Themes (con’t) • How beliefs support abuse • Karpman’s Triangle • Participant’s affect • Iceberg concept • Eliminating abuse from lives • Power cards

44. Women who use Aggression Themes (con’t) • Spirituality • Wisedom Cards • Becoming responsible for taking a stand against violence • Perspective Taking (Empty Chair)

45. Women who use aggression • Themes (con’t) • Commitment to work continuously on non-violence • Gateway to healthy, non abusive relationships

46. Women who use aggression • Turning Point –Women who Abuse, 28 minutes in total • Kinetic Video • info@kineticvideo.com

47. Women who use aggression • Perspective taking- empty chair exercise

48. Women who use aggression • Practice Implications • Partner checks with males- what are we learning from them • Addictions - • Trauma • Mental health • Mutual abuse

49. Women who use aggression • Discussion

50. Women who use aggression • References • Alyce LaViolette- Continuum of Aggression and Abuse, 2006. Conference on Family Violence Treatment, Calgary 2006. • Koonin M., Cabarcas, A., Geffner, R. (2002) Treatment of Women Arrested for Domestic Violence: Women Ending Abusive/Violent Episodes Respectfully. (Weaver Manual) • Swan, S.C., Gambone, L.J., Caldwell, J. E., Sullivan, T.P., Snow, D. K. A. (2008).A Review of Research on Women’s Use of Violence With Male Intimate Partners. Violence and Victims Volume 23, Number 3.