Class Dates:
In addition to the classes there is an intake and orientation session for all participants.
Each men’s class is 2 hours in length from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Clients are required to attend once a week.
Costs:
Intake and Orientation: $60.00
24 Classes @ $25 each + $600.00
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Total $660.00
Attendance:
D.A.I.P. accepts work and medical excuses for classes missed. Excuses must be provided by the employer, attending physician or hospital and received by this office by 4:00 p.m. the following day after the missed class.
Clients are allowed 4 unexcused absences without penalty. The fifth unexcused results in the client’s suspension from the program and must reinstate at a cost of $100.00 for the first suspension, $125.00 for the second suspension, and so on. Clients are contacted upon suspension and provided up to two weeks to reinstate. If clients do not reinstate, D.A.I.P. submits a letter of non-compliance to the court.
How is the program designed?
The program is designed to help an individual stop violent behavior patterns by achieving these 5 objectives:
- To assist the participant to understand his or her acts of violence as a means of controlling the victim's actions, thoughts, and feelings by examining the intent of his or her acts of abuse and the belief system from which one operates.
- To increase the participant's willingness to change his or her actions by examining the negative effects of one's behavior on the relationship, partner, children, friends, and him/herself.
- To increase the participant's understanding of the causes of the violence by examining the cultural and social contexts which he or she uses against the partner.
- To provide the participant with practical information on how to change abusive behavior by exploring non-controlling and non-violent ways of relating to others.
- To encourage the participant to become accountable to those who may have been hurt by the actions of the abuse and violence, and to encourage them to acknowledge the abuse and accept the responsibility for its impact on his/her partner and others.
The curriculum is based on eight themes, each of which is explored over a three-week period. Each theme represents an aspect of non-violent and respectful relationships. The eight themes are as follows:
- Non-threatening behavior
- Respect
- Trust and Support
- Honesty and accountability
- Responsible Parenting
- Shared responsibility
- Economic Partnership
- Negotiation and fairness
This curriculum can lead to true empowerment in the participants. It challenges men to take the risk to stop controlling, and to stop having all the power. It asks men to give women the choice to love them. It asks them to respect women, and to give up the privileged status our society has given them. The curriculum gives each participant the choice to be in an equal relationship with a woman which means that he will feel pain, will sometimes lose, and won't always get to decide. Making that choice allows him to fully be human.
Facilitators
Each man and each woman who has taken on the task of facilitating classes for men who batter walk into the room mindful of : the women whose lives have been diminished by the violence of those they seek to help, the class' expectations, and what explanations would seem appropriate.
Many men in these classes will stop physically and sexually abusing women, but many won't. It is crucial that those of us who have some influence in how the community responds to those who continue to batter their partners know the difference between compassion and collusion. No man who batters is helped by our collusion, and no woman is hurt by our compassion. A facilitator must recognize that sometimes the most compassionate thing we can do for a man who batters is to physically prevent him from being violent. Jail, exclusion orders, and the denial of visitation are often needed to stop the violence. Using them does not mean the classes have failed, but it does mean that an individual man who batters has not yet made the decision to change.