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The River Reporter Solutions sought for Presently, no treatment services exist for abusers in the county, though some experts feels that this is where the real roots of the problems lies. One panel member described society's response to family violence as "a band-aid solution." Attended by about 40 people, the meeting was held in the court room of Judge Robert Conway and hosted by the Wayne County Men's Task Force. Kitty Kreitner, hotline coordinator at the Women's Resource Center in Honesdale, explained that her agency is limited by charter to providing services to victims and could not become involved with abusers. In describing the problem, she told of an incident where a local man held a gun to his wife's head, playing Russian roulette. Another man forced his spouse to ingest human waste "because that's what he told her she was," Kreitner said. The law-enforcement perspective was presented by State Trooper Don Bradbury, Honesdale Police investigator Thomas LeStrange, and Sheriff Bill Bluff. All spoke of the dangers and frustrations of intervening in domestic disputes. Assistant district attorney David Bianco described the Protection From Abuse (PFA) Act of 1976, and told how protection orders work. Judge Conway expressed frustration with some aspects of the law as it presently is written. "One of the problems is that there is no teeth in it, as far as having the person undergo some type of counseling or treatment." "I sign a temporary order saying that, generally the husband, is to be removed from the house and there is a court order that he is not to menace or injure his wife," Conway said, but that the only abusers who can be mandated to participate in a counseling program are those who have violated a PFA order and are found in contempt of court. Jim Rielly, director of the detox program at Wayne Memorial Hospital, said that he had researched batterer's programs and believed some treatment was effective in changing behavior. Battering is a learned behavior. It is not a psychiatric issue," he stated, emphasizing that if it is learned it can also be unlearned. Rielly briefly described such programs as EMERGE in Boston and AMEND in Denver which offer group counseling to clients. Edward Gondolf, author of a book entitled Men Who Batter and director of a similar program called Second Step, spoke to The River Reporter prior to the panel discussion. Gondolf, who is on staff at the University of Pittsburgh School of Psychiatry, said his program is based on social learning theory. He added that the program includes a 24-hour hotline, in addition to group sessions, which men can call when they feel themselves approaching violence. He described the program as successful and said there are several others like it around the country. Trehab counselor John Druther told the meeting that his agency had provided a similar program in 1984, but apparently its time had not yet come. He described men who batter as "lacking social or spiritual supports." An invocation for the evening was offered by Father Michael Fill of Grace Episcopal Church in Honesdale, who expressed support for the idea of a counseling group for men who batter. After the meeting, Tom Rue, a probation officer in Sullivan County, noted that he received phone calls from a few people who had read newspaper accounts in advance of the meeting, who said they were interested in participating in a support group. Rue said one unidentified man left a message claiming that he was being abused by his wife. The man never called back. Rue said, as an alleged victim, the man would have been referred to the Women's Resource Center. A spokesperson for that agency confirmed that it would provide services to battered men, although few cases have been reported in Wayne County.
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© 1985-2006, Tom Rue. All rights reserved.
