by Elizabeth A. Elliott
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There are programs that help the abused find healing and strength. But there are also programs, usually court-mandated, to stop the batterers from their strikes against their intimate partner. Batterer intervention programs aim to teach offenders better ways of dealing with anger and relationships.
One such program is a 52-week-long program offered by Catholic Charities in Solano, Calif.
"I tell people that when you do domestic violence, you have to approach it from many different angles," said Greg Angan, director of the program. "The reason why people are violent are a whole range of why, so you have to attack it on all kinds of levels."
At Catholic Charities, Angan calls his approach an "integrated system. The first thing we talk about is anger management. Then, after that, you have to ask if there is any substance abuse going on in the house."
"If there's substance abuse, I would actually put anger management on the back burner and treat the substance abuse first," he continued. "If there's substance abuse, you can talk to them and if they're under the influence, they won't hear you."
