Patriarchy, Transgenerational Trauma, and Passion for Change: Vicarious Exposure to Domestic Violence in Facilitators of Men's Behavior Change Programs

One in three women worldwide will experience interpersonal violence in their lifetime committed by an intimate partner and leading to potentially long-standing physical and psychological health issues. Men's behavior change programs are group-based change-intervention programs for perpetrators of domestic violence (DV). Facilitators of such programs are usually senior practitioners with a relevant tertiary undergraduate degree. How they protect themselves from vicarious exposure and maintain longevity of practice is unknown. This idiographic study explored the positive and negative "lived" experience of facilitators of men's behavior change programs using interpretative phenomenological analysis to guide data collection and analysis. One superordinate theme, patriarchy, transgenerational trauma and passion for change, overarched four subordinate themes. Within these themes, participants highlighted their exposure to multiple systemic and intergenerational narratives of DV and their passion for contributing to societal change. As facilitators, their specialized skill set navigated historical patriarchal beliefs and values, intergenerational violence, and marginalization, mirroring the dynamics of DV. Through an unavoidable lens, participants described a constant state of vigilance to assumed male privilege and coercive control, equally important forms of DV but often less visible. Cofacilitation brought complex dynamics for modeling an equal partnership. Despite vicarious exposure to DV and the imposing nature of a "DV lens", participants expressed a passionate commitment to individual growth and societal change. Men's behavior change programs offer opportunities to confront the societal curse of domestic/interpersonal violence by consciously acknowledging the power of systemic patriarchy to disempower and destabilize all members of society.