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Workshop
Trains Staff in Violence-Prevention Techniques
Building on a growing awareness of violence against women that began with several reported attacks on campus last semester, the Campus Violence Prevention Initiative this week sponsored a two-day workshop that organizers hope will help reduce future levels of violence by men. The initiative was organized after alumnus Jackson Katz spoke on campus Dec. 1 about preventing such violence. Katz is the founder of MVP Strategies, an organization that trains men in traditionally male arenas, such as professional sports and the military, to prevent male violence against women. At the workshop, he and colleague Bryan Hurt, led 31 participants, 18 of them young men from the University, through a series of exercises designed to raise their awareness of male violence and alternatives available to by-standers in abusive situations. Men from Amherst and Hampshire colleges and six University women were part of the group. The workshop was designed to train male staffers between 20 and 30 years old and others to become mentors in preventing violence by running workshops of their own. "A lot of men don't know what they can do to stop violence against women," said Hurt. "Unfortunately men have not been educated well in this way." "The whole idea of the pedagogy of the program is to stimulate dialogue," said Katz. "We give them a concrete, real-life situation where violence is happening or about to happen, and then we give them a list of options. There's no right answer here. There's only a wrong answer, and that is to do nothing." "The central principle of this training is that a primary obligation of male leaders is to take a stand against gender violence," said Grant Ingle, director of the Office of Human Relations, in the proposal for the initiative. "We're trying to see how we might make this a longer-term project in the Five Colleges," said Ingle. "It's a staff-training model. Our staff can train undergraduates. Some of them who get enthusiastic can train high school students, who can then train in the middle schools. That's the long-term goal." Communication professor Sut Jhally stressed the need to keep the workshops as discussions led by mentors rather than instruction by authority figures. "Your workshop leader is someone who you know understands what's going on with you, but who is a few years older," he said. Response to the training has been enthusiastic, according to Merle Ryan, assistant dean of students, who is co-coordinating the project with Jhally. Dan Magner, assistant coach of women's soccer, attended the training. "I think the idea is excellent and personally, the workshop had a strong impact," he said. "I believe in the importance of trying to teach others and mentoring others in preventing violent situations. I thought it was a great group with professors, people from the Men's Resource Center, the Everywoman's Center. It was a great cross-section of people. Everyone helped everybody." He said a colleague who couldn't attend has shown a lot of interest, asking a lot of questions after each of the two sessions. "I would encourage others to get involved, in particular, men who want to make a difference," he said. "It's a great way to have an impact and hopefully change attitudes to be more positive." "This was a phenomenal opportunity," said Jon Kapell, acting director of Greek Affairs. "I knew that it was going to be empowering, but the level to which I feel empowered is beyond my expectations. I'm reevaluating a lot of things. Anyone I can affect through this process, I'm looking to work with." Kapell said that the focus on what bystanders can do to prevent violence was a new perspective for him. "I really like what the program has to offer," he said. "It doesn't target the people who are committing the aggression. It asks, 'What can you do to prevent it or stop it?' I've never had that kind of training before. The creativity level which you can use to prevent some of these things is amazing. Creativity is a key component." Police officer Stephen Westerling, is looking ahead to the next step when he and other participants will run their own workshops, mainly for undergraduate men. "It's a great concept, and it's different, too," he said. "We have the tools now. I'm looking forward to seeing how the implementation works. Instead of like a lot of programs where we take care of the victim, his [Katz's] program is kind of revolutionizing. We're going to the source of the problem itself...that being men." Westerling said that since most men are nonviolent, they have the opportunity to use their majority status to prevent violence, if they will learn to speak out against it. "It's the 98 percent standing around watching this occur, they're the ones that have the power to make a stand and say, 'No that isn't right.' 98 percent vs. 2 percent - from a law-enforcement perspective, that makes all the sense for me to support something like that. This is a very proactive approach." A group of volunteers from the workshop will meet next week to discuss the next step toward running their own workshops, Ryan said. |
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