Promoting safety through understanding career experiences of Australian men’s behaviour change program practitioners Zoë Bosch

Aims and Objectives To understand the work experiences of practitioners in men’s domestic violence perpetrator programs (MDVPPs) Specific objectives: The motivations of practitioners to choose to work in MDVPPs Reasons why practitioners choose to continue working in MDVPPs The perceived barriers that may deter practitioners from choosing or continuing to work in MDVPPs

Methodology Qualitative research design Snowball sampling Nine participants from Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia Minimum two years experience in the field Mix of voluntary and mandated client base, group and individual programs and training backgrounds

Methodology Data collection Semi-structured interviews with nine participants Trustworthiness of the data through member- checking and independent review Thematic analysis resulting in four key themes

Limitations Small Australian workforce Recruitment difficulties Small sample Ethics around anonymity Limitations of semi-structured interviews Bias in data analysis Data collection issues

Findings Valuing justice Seeing change in the clients Increasing safety of women and children Valuing justice on a societal level “Gender inequity and inequality are at the core of women’s oppression, so I see this work as joining a movement, not simply just a job. This is now a lifestyle for me.” “If you don’t have the personal commitment, then you’re not going to be able to do a great job within the professional realm.”

Findings Working with men who use violence against women Small or no steps towards change Enjoying the challenge Feeling/being unsafe as workers “At the end of a group program or individual intervention, sometimes the shift seems so small and a lot of these guys are really terrorizing women and children in their lives and I find it incredibly frustrating, sometimes the lack of shifts some guys choose to make.” “Sometimes the more challenging they are, the more fun I have.”

Findings Relationships between workers Gendered attitudes Problematic male workers Co-facilitator relationships “Male workers not addressing the sexism and gender privilege that they bring to the movement and the work, this is upsetting for me but probably worse for our female colleagues.” “You’ve got to be able to find the right people to work with, otherwise the work is really hard, and I think that’s the main reason why some people leave the industry is problematic co-worker relationships.”

Findings Organisational impacts on practice Inadequate supervision Funding and resources Lack of education and training opportunities ”Not having enough resources to run the program as well as it could be run, is a challenge with doing the actual role itself.” ‘”We’re producing graduates that come out and are going into these work forces and the reality is that men’s behaviour change work and refuge work and child protection work, are where graduates are going. They’re going into those jobs completely ill equipped without any foundational knowledge…”

Significance Importance of perpetrator accountability to reduction of family and domestic violence Workforce shortage in many parts of Australia Workforce development Education and training Support for practitioners