Sponsorship

Abstract

In spite of feminist analyses of domestic violence that emphasize the social roots of battering, interventions with batterers are primarily conceptualized within the framework of the private sychotherapeutic encounter. Furthermore, it is still often women- be they battered women's advocates, shelter workers, or feminist clinicians-who hold batterers accountable for their violence. This article presents an alternative framework that suggests links between domestic violence and the social values of the privacy and autonomy of the family, as well as with male rites of passage organized around themes of violence or the devaluation of women. From this frame of reference, a central component to ending violence against women entails men holding men accountable for battering. The development of a community based male sponsor program that functions in conjunction with more conventional psychotherapy of batterers is described.