Pandora’s box? Exploring group facilitation skills for working with men who use violence

This series of three discrete workshops discusses critical themes in facilitating behaviour change groups for domestic and family violence perpetrators.

These workshops will be based on contemporary evidence and practice-oriented. Where relevant they will draw on research and practice (e.g. the NSW Risk, Safety and Support Framework) as highlighted in the 2021 SPEAQ Forum.

All workshops will align with both the Domestic and family violence services Practice principles, standards and guidance and Perpetrator Intervention Services Requirements.

Workshop 1: What does “accountability” mean in men’s group work?

The concept of “accountability” is inherent in perpetrator intervention programs, and this workshop will explore the dimensions of accountability. The questions of ’why does he choose to use violence?’, and ’what should our response as a community be?’ have tended to replace the question of ‘why doesn’t she leave?’. This workshop will investigate topics including:

whether accountability means changing men’s behaviour in order to stop their violence or managing the risk the user of violence poses to their family through monitoring and containment
the roles of both the service system and the user of violence in achieving these outcomes
what ‘accountability’ could look like in practice across different service settings
to whom men who use violence should be accountable (No to Violence, 2020, p. 23)

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, 1 September 2022
Time: 9:30am - 11:30am (AEST)
Location: Online

Participants can also attend an optional pre-tech session on Tuesday, 30 August 2022 from 9:30am - 10:00am AEST to test their equipment's compatibility with this delivery mode (Zoom).

Learning Outcomes

Define accountability in men’s interventions.
Describe different levels of accountability.
Identify strengths and challenges in systemic accountability.

Who should attend

Emerging facilitators as well as intermediate and senior level who would like to refresh and update their learning.

This workshop is for perpetrator intervention services that are funded under the Department of Justice and Attorney-General Domestic and Family Violence Support Services Investment Specification.

About the facilitators

Dr Brian Sullivan

Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Facilitating Men’s Behaviour Change, Dr Brian Sullivan, CQUniversity Senior Lecturer, is part of the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research Centre (QCDFVR). Brian has much experience in writing, facilitating and upskilling others in men’s domestic and family violence (DFV) intervention programs and was formerly the Practice Manager at YFS (Logan), where he supervised staff in the DFV Program. He has worked with communities as part of collaborative responses to DFV and currently sits on the board of the Red Rose Foundation and the Queensland Police Service DFV Advisory Committee.

Elizabeth Boardman (Liz)

Liz Boardman has spent over 15 years working directly with women and children who have experienced gender-based violence in Southeast Queensland and in the United Kingdom. In 2019 she was excited to transition to QCDFVR to take on a new role supporting practitioners within the sector through facilitating Communities of Practice and upskilling generalist practitioners through training.

Liz’s years working as a domestic violence advocate in Queensland equipped her with a thorough and practical knowledge of the challenges Queensland women, children, and families face. She looks forward to applying this knowledge and developing her research skills within the dedicated QCDFVR team.