The feminist movement is largely responsible for bringing the issue of domestic violence to the forefront of the public consciousness. The feminist approach to domestic violence started in the 1970’s when a small group of women worked tirelessly to provide a safe place for abused women to go. Prior to this domestic violence was something that went on ‘behind closed doors’ when the ‘out of sight - out of mind’ mentality existed.
The feminist movement is clear that change within societies will come about not when women gain the confidence to leave men, but when men stop hitting women. It was at this time that feminist workers started to design interventions to stop men abusing women. These interventions whilst seemingly now out of date are actually the very basis of current work with abusers.
The feminist ‘psychoeducational’ approach draws from the Duluth Model of Domestic Violence. The main premise of the model is not only the man’s want to exert control and power over the woman but moreover, society’s acceptance of this. The approach focuses on perpetrators of domestic violence not as mentally disordered, but as suffering from a defective attitude. As such it is possible to work with offenders in a group setting to change attitudes through structured education and challenging material as opposed for the need for ‘therapy’ (as would be the need in the case of mentally disordered offenders.)
The ultimate aim with a feminist psychoeducational intervention is for the abuser to take ownership of his actions and take responsibility for them, rather then blaming his actions on early childhood experiences, or blaming the abuse on the victim’s behaviour.
In more recent times there has been a growing criticism of the feminist approach. What is clear is that historically, the feminist approach has been largely responsible for bring the subject of domestic abuse to the forefront and can only be applauded for that. However some studies have highlighted that the psychoeducational approach has made no difference to reducing reoffending in men and indeed whilst this approach fits in neatly with the criminal justice system, it is ineffective and the training given to professionals has often been inadequate.