PROJECT SCOPE CLIENT APPLICATION FORM
PROSPECTIVE CLIENT ORGANIZATION INFORMATION
Organization Name
Counterpoint Counselling &Educational Co-operative
Organization
Description
Counterpoint is a profeminist non-profit organization that
offers counselling and educational services to assaulted women and
abusive men offering programs in English and Spanish.
Counterpoint is accredited to provide the Partner Assault Response
(PAR) program which is a program for abusive men referred through
the provincial criminal justice system, after a conviction / plea bargain
related to a domestic violence offense. (PAR programs operate across
the province and are related to every specialized domestic violence
court in Ontario. ) As part of the PAR program, Counterpoint offers
individual ‘partner contact services ’ to the women partners of PAR
participants which includes supportive counselling, information and
referral to the women partners of men mandated into the PAR
program.
The Counterpoint women’s program offers not only individual partner
contact, but a range of group programs that include group counselling
and support, educational and healing workshops and information and
referrals. As a Bi-lingual agency the services of Counterpoint are
offered in English and Spanish and cultural interpreters and sign
language interpreters are used when other language services are
required.
Counterpoint also plays an important role in the larger community by
offering a variety of trainings for service providers in working with
abusive men to help abusers learn how to have a healthy/ non- abusive
relationship with their intimate partner. Counterpoint also has a
commitment to conducting research on a range of issues that relate to
intimate partner abuse in general, the impact of the immigrant
experience on intimate partner abuse as well as working with abusive
men and their partners. Counterpoint works in partnership with many
community based organizations working to achieve a coordinated
response to violence against women across the city of Toronto .
Division or
N/A
Department
Website
http://counterpoint.coop/
PROJECT INFORMATION
Project Description
We are exploring the impact of PAR program on the female partners of
PLEASE BE AS
participants. The PAR programs are court mandated interventions for
CLEAR AND
men found guilty of intimate partner violence. PAR programs are based
SPECIFIC AS
POSSIBLE, i.e. What
is the problem that
your organization is
trying to solve?
Why is it an important
problem?
How does the project
fit into your
organization’s regular
operations?
PGI is a student-led
organization.
Why/how could you
benefit from studentrun consulting?
on a socio-educational model where men attend group sessions for 2.5
hours weekly for 12 weeks. In order to ensure safety, all PAR programs
are mandated to contact the partners of every participant at least four
times over the course of the program
A qualitative study carried out by the Women Abuse Council of Toronto
in early 2000 found that regardless of the impact of the program on the
male participants, the PAR program often became a catalyst for change
for the women partners of PAR participants. The findings of this small
study showed that women used this opportunity as a stimulus for their
own personal growth and development; for example, some women
chose to go to school, others back to work, others re-connected with
families. We want to explore this area further and are particularly
interested in the social, emotional, and personal impact that PAR
programs can have on the woman partner. We are interested in
beginning to articulate how these programs impact women in relation to
their sense of themselves, their ability to have agency in their lives etc.
We know that the PAR programs do help protect women’s physical
safety, for the period during which the abuser is in the program because
while in the program, the participant is closely monitored with serious
consequences for re-assaults. However, for any real long term and
sustainable change to take place, the woman survivor must also be
able to feel strong and capable enough to leave the relationship and
have the concrete supports that allow her to live independently. We
believe that the PAR programs have an important role in this personal
journey .This proposed project will allow us to carry out qualitative
research into the Counterpoint PAR program that will illustrate what
benefits, if any, the PAR program can provide to female partners of
male PAR participants separate and apart from a reduction of physical
violence. This small research initiative will allow us to begin to
concretely address a vitally important aspect of the PAR program that
has largely been ignored-i.e. the impact on women partners.
There has been extremely limited Canadian research into the impact
and value of PAR programs, notwithstanding that the programs have
been an integral aspect of the Ministry of the Attorney General’s
provincial police response to domestic violence within the criminal
justice system for over 10 years. Recently the length of the PAR
programs was cut by the Ministry of the Attorney General, from 16
weeks to 12 weeks (shortened by 1/4 of the total time frame of the
programs).
It is critically important to begin a process of assessing the impact of the
PAR programs not only on the direct participants, (i.e. men court
mandated into the programs) but on their partners. These programs
are the ONLY institutional response to domestic violence on the part of
the criminal justice system – other than incarceration- which is relatively
rare and certainly has a questionable function in preventing further
violence.
One of the challenges felt by the non- profit community agencies
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delivering PAR programs is that, although the purpose of the
programs is to protect women’s safety, the programs are often seen as
programs “FOR” abusers and therefore viewed in a relatively negative
light- particularly by those working directly with abused women. This
research project will help to illuminate the role that PAR programs play
with respect to the women partners of participants and will therefore
help to articulate the impact of these programs on women as opposed
to the male participants.
From the ongoing work with women survivors in the women’s program,
Counterpoint staff have many indications that the PAR programs do
have a positive and direct impact on women partners of PAR
participants. The information collected in this project will be shared with
the Ministry of the Attorney General (funder of the programs) and will
hopefully be able to play a significant role in focusing attention on the
importance of PAR programs – a program that has all to often been
ignored by the funder/ government/ policy makers. Our hope is that the
findings of this research will inspire greater attention to the PAR
programs and stimulate interest so that there is greater attention to
carry out further research and further development of PAR programs in
Ontario.
Desired Project
Start Date
Project Duration
Research and
Analysis Required
/October 2015
6-7 months
Students will review the literature and policy and program documents to
understand the PAR program goals and content, including the
Provincial Best Practice and Implementation Guidelines and materials
specific to he Counterpoint PAR program.
The students will also search out and review research reports related to
the impact of batterer’s programs (the more global term for PAR type
programs) focusing on any Canadian content. The students will also
review the report produced by the Women Abuse Council of Toronto in
2000,.
Students will then engage in field research by conducting interviews.
Students will undertake qualitative interviews with women partners of
men mandated into the PAR program and will be responsible for
collecting the data, analyzing it, identifying themes and writing up the
findings.
Counterpoint has a pre-existing protocol in place for ethical research
and student engagement that will ensure confidential is maintained.
Final Deliverables
Expected
An interim report will be developed approximately half way through the
research project, which will give the students and chance to highlight
what they have found, identify challenges and successes and most
importantly identify any changes that are necessary to ensure that the
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research project reaches its goals.
A final report will be developed that outlines the research findings,
areas for future exploration, policy implications.
A Powerpoint presentation will also be completed that will provide a
more accessible way to share highlights of the research project with the
wider community.
Timelines
Month 1: Orientation to PAR programs and the specialized domestic
violence court process as it operates in the GTA. As well, the
consultants will gain an overview of the women’s program, partner
contact issues and review prior research. As part of this process
students will attend court to be able to understand the role of PAR
programs within the entire criminal justice process.
Month 2: Create interview questions and work with staff to develop list
of interviewees (goal is 20 interviews with women partners of men who
have participated in the Counterpoint PAR program.)
Month 3 and 4 : Conduct qualitative interviews ( approximately 45
minute interviews, probably through phone contact) . Counterpoint staff
will be responsible for identifying potential interviewees and asking for
their participation in the process. Students will then be introduced to the
participants and may be responsible for organizing the actual time /
date of the interview. Students will also be responsible for transcribing
the interviews
Month 4 : Begin to review and analyze the information collected and
identify initial themes/trends, while completing interviews and
transcriptions. The students should have a preliminary overview of key
themes by the end of Month 4.
Month 5: A focus group for will be conducted for up to 8 women who
have already been interviewed. This session will be largely organized
and conducted by a BSW student who will be doing her field placement
with Counterpoint. In the focus group, which will be limited to 6 women
– a representative sample of those interviewed- the initial themes will
be presented and discussed.
Month 6: Create final report that outlines findings, areas for future
exploration, policy implications and a power point presentation of the
findings.
Resources to be
Provided
The student project team will have full access to the office of
Counterpoint with workspaces and printing services. The project team
will have the opportunity to participate in Counterpoint staff meetings
and have full access to consult and work with staff, other students and
members of the organization. The staff will be responsible for
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Project Impact
identifying and confirming the interviewees. While the students will carry
out the actual interviews, staff will be available to consult with the
students after an interview so that they can get support in de-briefing
about any issues that may come up in the interview and/ or to get more
information, learn about other community resources etc.
Canadian research into PAR programs in general, is relatively limited
and there has been almost no research looking specifically at the
impact of women partners ( aside from the very preliminary Woman
Abuse Council of Toronto project ) Women abuse is a major issue in
our community and PAR programs are one of the only interventions for
abusers within the community and THE only institutional intervention
for abusers within the criminal justice system aside from incarceration.
As mentioned above, the Province of Ontario, funder of PAR programs
has imposed cuts to the length of existing PAR programs. This
proposed research will provide invaluable information to both the
province and the community regarding the importance and impact of
these programs, and may be able to contribute to the ongoing
discussion about the future of PAR programming across the province.
This is an important and unique contribution to Canadian research in
the area of prevention of gendered violence and promoting the safety of
women.
CONSULTANT INFORMATION
Number of
3-4
Consultants
Required
Expected Hours per 3 hours
Week, per
Consultant
What the
Consultants will gain perspectives on how small community agencies
Consultants can
operate, particularly when conducting a government mandated
Expect
program. They will have the opportunity to connect with female partners
directly to learn from their lived experience, while supporting the
organization’s goals.
Consultants will gain a good understanding of the male batterer’s
programs and PAR programs in particular, and will have the opportunity
to explore how research and new information can have a potential
impact on existing program delivery. The team will learn about, and
gain a unique perspective on, the criminal justice response to violence
against women.
Desired
Qualifications*
The ideal consultants will be interested in gender issues and criminal
justice and should demonstrate sensitivity and professionalism. They
should also be comfortable conducting face-to-face interviews and
focus groups.
Some understanding of the complexity of intimate partner abuse and
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the role of community agencies and the criminal justice system would
be an asset.
PROJECT COORDINATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact Person and Vivien Green
Title
Chair of the Board of Directors
601-920 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W 3C7
Address
(416) 920-0268
Telephone
Fax
Email
vivien.green@teksavvy.com
OTHER INFORMATION
* Note: this information will be used to help PGI directors with the consultant assignment
process. There is no guarantee that the PGI will assign consultants with these specific
characteristics.
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