Family Violence Initiative -
History and Mission

It started on November 19, 1997 when a group of faculty in the school first met to discuss the issue of family violence. Some of us had worked together on projects dealing with violence before. Drs. Steve Anderson and Sandra Rigazio-DiGilio had each co-authored chapters to Dr. Jim O'Neil's forthcoming co-edited book (along with Michele Harway) entitled, What Causes men's violence against women? (Sage Publications, 1999). Steve Lanza and Margaret Cochran-Schlossberg, the co-authors for these chapters (respectively) were both graduate students in the School's marriage and family therapy program. Drs. Preston Britner and Ronald Rohner who shared an interest in issues of child abuse and neglect were collaborating on research addressing the integration of attachment theory and parental acceptance and rejection (PAR Theory). They also planned to offer a graduate seminar on the same topic in the Spring of 1999. Drs. Rigazio-DiGilio and Anderson had worked together on an evaluation of Connecticut 's court-referred, educational program for men who had been physically violent towards their partners. We were also joined by Nancy Rohner who had worked closely with Dr. Ron Rohner to move the Center for the Study of Parental Acceptance and Rejection into the School of Family Studies from another academic department. Later in our development, we were joined by Dr. Irene Q. Brown, who had developed a special course to examine the history of domestic violence in the America since the early 1800's, and Dr. Maureen Mulroy, a cooperative extension veteran who now has a joint faculty appointment in Family Studies.

Although some of us had worked together before, none of us really knew the full scope of the work that was being done in the school on the issue of family violence. Initially, we just wanted to know what each other was doing. As we discussed our various interests, it became abundantly clear that we had unknowingly stumbled into a tremendous resource--each other. It is rare in a small school such as ours to have a "critical mass" of interested faculty who can bring their combined interests and experiences to bear on a single topic. The outcome has been stimulating and fun.

To date, the group has produced two symposia. The group is sponsoring part of the 2002 Prevention Series with Symposium 2: Working with Emotional/Psychological Violence on Wednesday, Apr. 3, 2002, 3:30-5:30 p.m. in Konover Auditorium, Dodd Research Center. The program includes a definition of Psychological/Emotional Abuse, an audience assessment, as well as services available to help with abuse and an overview of history and research on Psychological/Emotional Abuse. Speakers include: Charles Super, Ph.D.; Dean, James O'Neil, Ph.D.; Stephen Anderson, Ph.D.; Preston Britner, Ph.D.; Irene Q. Brown, Ph.D.; Ron Rohner, Ph.D.; Nancy Rohner; Kathleen Holgerson; and SFS Graduate Students.

The FVI also sponsored a symposium on the topic, "What causes men's violence towards women?" Drs. O'Neil, Rigazio-DiGilio, and Anderson and their graduate student co-authors, presented summaries of the chapters that will appear in Dr. O'Neil's forthcoming book. Another graduate student, Darci Cramer-Benjamin, and an undergraduate student, Amy Watkins, served as discussants. Amy is a University Scholar. The floor was then turned over to the 250 attendees for a provocative question-and-answer period.

Another product has been a poster presentation of the key points raised in the symposium that currently hangs in a display on the first floor of the Family Studies Building. The poster presentation was largely the result of the efforts of Dr. Preston Britner and Nancy Rohner.

From its inception, the Family Violence Initiative (FVI) have been strongly invested in educating students about family violence and including students in our research and scholarly efforts. And, students have responded well to our overtures. For example, since 1995 when Dr. Anderson first introduced an undergraduate course on family violence as part of the School's curriculum, the class has been over-enrolled every time it has been offered. The symposium noted above was designed to include students in every aspect of the program. Students co-authored the papers that were presented, served as discussants following the presentations, and were the main participants during the question-and-answer period that followed. Another example of student involvement was a symposium sponsored by Dr. O'Neil at the American Psychological Association's (APA) Annual Conference in San Francisco last August. Two of our doctoral students, Steve Lanza and Rod Nadeau, were presenters at the symposium along with Dr. O'Neil.

The FVI group recently expanded its efforts to include developing a data base of all clients who attend the School's Humphrey Center for Marital and Family Therapy as a precursor to developing joint research projects. We also have begun plans to reach out to various state agencies who also share an interest in the issue of family violence.

We are keenly aware that the issue of family violence is so serious and entrenched in our social fabric that no one theory, discipline, or approach can hope to arrest its impact. That is why we have been so interested in coming together to focus our combined energies on this issue. The School of Family Studies, which has long held a tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration, brings together scholars from family studies, family therapy, developmental psychology, counseling psychology, anthropology, and history to name a few. The common thread is a focus on the family and the broader culture as the unit of analysis. It will take all of our perspectives and more if we are to really understand the sources of, and solutions to, family violence.

-- Adapted by Preston Britner from an article by Steve Anderson in the Spring 1999 School of Family Studies Newsletter.