Samenvatting

Battering as a consequence of power and powerlessness. Men learn to talk about domestic violence and their relationships with women and children through group work
This article reports on a working visit of a week (in September 2010), to three domestic abuse programmes aimed at male perpetrators of abuse, in Minnesota in the USA. So far, an effective
domestic violence intervention, or a model or treatment which is superior, is lacking (Babcock,Green & Robbie, 2004). An important goal of the visit was to gain more insight into the ways SLAAN UIT MACHT EN UIT ONMACHT American colleagues, in research and practice, deal with male perpetrators of abuse; how they perform risk analyses; how they provide help, support and safety. Also, the author wanted to
know how they deal with the fact that these men often are fathers. The working visit provided valuable inside information. The author spoke with experts and practitioners, observed groupwork and, in doing so, gained insight into the power and powerlessness of male perpetrators of abuse and their roles as partners and fathers. Combining insights from these conversations and observations and existing theory, this article gives a practice based view on how American colleagues deal with these men