Response-Based Approaches to people who have been harmed by

violenceThe Centre for Response-Based Practice

andThe University of Victoria

School of Social Work

Cathy Richardson

Metis Activist, Therapist

Prof. of Social WorkUniversity of Victoria

United Nations PanelViolence Against Indigenous Women

Dr. Allan Wade

• Therapist and Researcher• Co-founder of Centre for Response-Based

Practice• Senior faculty with City University of Seattle –

Victoria location Master’s of Counseling program

• Adjunct professor with the University of Victoria’s School of Social Work

Linda Coates, Ph.D.

Chair, Dept. of Psychology,Okanagan College,Penticton B.C.

Director, Centre for Response-Based Practice,Duncan B.C.

Centre for Response-Based Practice

• Direct service, victims and perpetrators of violence, children

• Clinical supervision and consultationChild protection, shelters, victim assistance, therapy

• Research: Language and violence and social responses.Criminal justice, mental health, human service, museums, history texts, brochures, fiction, psychological assessments.

• Education and professional training in response-based practice

Response-Based PracticeHelping People Recover from Violence In a

Context of Safety, Dignity and Social Justice

I would like to acknowledge the traditional caretakers of this land, the ancestors, and beings

everywhere, especially those recovering from violence & Mother Earth herself. 6

Purpose of my time with you:To present the key aspects of response-based

practice-orchestrating positive social responses-creating safety-the importance of human dignity-the importance of descriptive, accurate language-how response-based practice can assist in the

prevention of and recovery from elder abuse

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Creating A Space of Safety & Dignity.

Li Bon Jeu, Not Creatoeur, li courage miyinauwn, paray chee itayhtamawk, kwayesh kapimouhayhk, marsee cheeitwayak ka kishcheetaimoyak. Marseed’twnana.God, our Creator, give us courage, let us be of one mind, make us righteous, thankful and proud. Thank you and Amen!

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Response-based practice operates with the ideas…

• Effective social responses hinge on accurate accounts

• Observations on violence and resistance• Resistance is ever-present• Violence is deliberate• Violence is social• Violence is unilateral

• Language is often used to:• Conceal violence• Obscure offender responsibility• Conceal victims’ resistance• Blame, pathologize victims

•Language can be used more judiciously.

The Challenge of Obtaining Accurate Accounts and Creating Safety

• Offenders conceal their violence, create secrecy

• Victims’ (often) conceal their resistance, for safety

• Open disclosure is often dangerous

• Victims, marginalized have little access to public speech

• Offenders use language to conceal & justify violence

• Professionals in various roles use language in ways that obscure the events in question and do not attend to the safety of the person harmed

Social Responses to Victims of Violence

• Possibly the single best predictor of the level of victim distress

• Positive Social Responses• Victims tend to recover more fully and quickly

• Negative Social Responses• Victims receive a variety of mental health diagnoses• Greater distress over short and long term• Less likely to disclose to, collaborate with, authorities

• Marginalized people more likely to receive negative social responses (Aboriginal, seniors, LGBTQ, Disabilities, Poverty)

•Social responses linked to common ways of conceptualizing and “representing” violence, victims, offender

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Talking about abuse

Event

Responses & Resistance to Event

Social ResponsesTo Event & To Responses to Event

Responses toSocial Responses

Accurate Language

Identification Possible Change

DignitySafety

DignitySafety

DignitySafety

Effects-based Qs Response-based Qs

• How did that affect you?• How were you affected by

these events (mapping)• How did that make you

feel?• How did that impact your

relationship?• How did that affect your

view of yourself?• What other effects did you

experience?• Why do you think this

happened?

• How did you respond?• What did you do?• What did they do?• What did you do next?• What else did you do?• What went through your

mind?• What were you thinking?• Would it be fair to say you

resisted this mistreatment?• What do you mean? (if

abstract)

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Four Operations of Discourse

Conceal Resistance

Blame Victim Conceal Violence

Obscure Responsibility

Countering the Four Operations of Discourse

Reveal Resistance

Align with Victim Expose Full Extent of the Violence

Clarify Responsibility

Talking about abuse – creating safety• Attend to safety – Go over where we are, who

is watching, who they have told before, how that went, saying you don’t have to disclose anything you don’t want to, can stop anytime, set time parameters

• What kinds of things let you think it is safe enough to do this/to have this conversation?

• What are your concerns about talking to me?• Would you feel comfortable telling me that

you’ve had enough, that you would like to stop?

• Afterwards, ask how it was, what it was like to go over their responses to events, was anything helpful, how are they doing now? What can you do to continue to be helpful?

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Dignity

• Avoids telling people what to do• Allows maximize freedom in

appointments, topics of discussion• Always asks permission, renegotiates

each time• Makes the spirit of safety explicit• Treats people as responsible, choice-

makers, acting with deliberation

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Dignity through accurate language

• Use clear description of events, • Verbs not nouns• Avoiding & clarifying psychological • abstractions• Stick with interactional detail• Who did what to whom & how the• other responded (Eliciting Agency)• Social responses & responses to them

Centered on Dignity

19What does dignity mean to you?

Dignity is . . . •being treated with honour & respect

•Autonomy

•Freedom to, freedom from…

•Holistic integrity, safety and security

•Self worth, self-sovereignty

•Concern for others… and much muchmore 20

Dignity Across the Lifespan

How do we attend to the dignity of the person at all ages…

-before conception & birth?-in infancy & toddlerhood?-in childhood?-in adolescence?-in adulthood & in elderhood?-after they have passed?

When treated with dignity,people may…-have light in their eyes -hold their head high-sparkle-smile-soften in their demeanour-experience the psychological freedom to engage, explore ideas& be playful-stand tall-breathe naturally-feel grounded

p. 10

Social Responses to Victims of Violence

• Negative Social Responses• Victims receive a variety of mental health diagnoses• Greater distress over short and long term• Less likely to disclose to, collaborate with, authorities• Sets stage for re-victimization

• Positive Social Responses• Victims tend to recover more fully and quickly• Creates safety and restores independence• Promotes dignity and wellness• Heals individuals, families, communities, the world

To conclude…

Our role, in part, is to:• reveal violence, broadly defined• clarify offender responsibility• elucidate victims’ responses and resistance• contest the blaming, pathologizing of victims

• We have found that building more accurate and just accounts and using accurate language is of immediate benefit to victims… and offenders.•Preserving dignity through our responses to elder abuse helps and heals• This is not the province of experts: It is a human rights “witnessing” practice – an ordinary practice - that we are all qualified to perform.

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Thank you!

Centre for Response-Based PracticeDuncan B.C. Canada

Responsebasedpractice.com

Linda Coates, Cathy Richardson, Allan Wade

Presented by Erica Jacquet