Violence against women will not stop untilgreaterprevention and treatment opportu
nities are provided the perpetrators of violence. The nursing literature about working
with men who batter is nearly nonexistent, and yet nurses in community and psycbiat
ric settings are frequently confronted witb family violence and therefore are in oppor
tune positions to intervene in a manner that is sensitive to both the perpetrator and
the partner. Because nurses work in a variety of settings including schools and indus
try, they also can promote awareness of the potential for domestic violence. This clini
cal article presents an account of a group treatment program for court-referred men
who batter. The program consisted of 12, 2-hour weekly sessions, with new members
beginning every 6 weeks. There were two group facilitators, a woman (registered nurse)
and a man. Furthermore this articlia discusses what the men in this program said
about their "violent" experiences and what the nurse inferred as themes and identi
fied as the men's needs and strategies for change throughout phases of the group
process. (J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc [1998]. 4, 41-47)