COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse PracticesIntroduction and BackgroundWe need to relate the studies on violence and the studies in masculinity for a more efficient and appropriateunderstanding of male violence against women(Machado, 2001, Villaseñor Farías & Castaneda-Torres, 2003,Minayo, 2005, Ramirez 1999, Ramirez 2005).. In recent years, after indications from the InternationalConferences on Population and Development, organized by the United Nations (UN) in Cairo (1994) and Beijing(1995) on how to work with men in different areas, an increase of public attention on areas including male sexualand reproductive rights, paternity and parenting, male health and violence, research and public policy in variouscountries occurred. In 2009, a Global Symposium in Rio de Janeiro was held with the participation of NGOs from80 countries to discuss the engagement of men to promote gender equality.Many of these countries, in varying conditions, promote intervention with men who are perpetrators of violence inaddition to implementing different initiatives with persons who are victims in these incidents.It is important to clarify the diversity of terms used to define male violence groups. We find such terms as“rehabilitative”, “educational”, “psycho-educational”, “reflexive”, and “therapeutic”. The variety is related to thetheoretical approach and the objectives of the group.The first re-education, rehabilitation, and reflexive groups with male perpetrators of violence began in the USAand Canada towards the end of the 70s and they have since multiplied in many countries under varioustheoretical perspectives and formats .On these years, several authors had done studies about interventions withmen who have abused, like Corsi (1994); Adams & Cayouette (2002); Nascimento (2001); Corsi, Dohmen, Sotés& Méndez (2006); Beiras, Clímaco, Lodetti, Lago & Toneli (2007), Lima, Buchele & Climaco (2008), Quinteros-Turinetto & Carbajosa-Vicente (2008), Toneli, Beiras, Climaco & Lago (2010).A major concern relates to violence against women. Changes were made in the laws of European and Americancountries, in regard to legislation on gender violence. In some of these laws the penalty against any domesticassault violence became more rigid, with strong criminalization of the one who exercises the violence.In this context, discussions about the identity of those who commit acts of violence have gained momentum,although often still as a part of conceptions of behavior. Explanation like psychologizing and pathologizing hasbeen used in difference ways. Both in the legal field as in the social assistance, if we think about discursivepractices, there is a production of male identity involved in violence. this production is present in the media anddiscussed at various forums on public policy and also appears in changes in the laws of each country.GoalsThis investigation is derived from a PhD Thesis (still in process). In this communication, we want to present theidea of this study and some initial points about the relationship between the identity process, masculinity andviolence, reflecting on the construction and deconstruction of identity of men who have exercised violence in theiraffective relationships, when they participate in a group intervention process. We wonder, what is an "aggressor"or "abusive man"? What linguistic resources are activated on social interaction for the construction of thissubject? What gender issues are involved? The objective of this research is not to victimize or criminalize them,but cast a critical view on the discursive practices that constitute subjectivities and influence laws and welfare168