Reviews for Healing Violent Men

The average rating for Healing Violent Men based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-10-27 00:00:00 Richard Strothmann This is about the subject of domestic violence, written in 2002 by the now-President (since 2016) of Lewis University. I am very familiar with the author, but have not had any personal experience with the subject matter. It is a far more common problem than I realize. Of course, numerous instances of domestic violence have been reported widely about rich and famous people in the field of sports and entertainment. The author had several years of hands-on experience dealing with batterers. So this book looks at the problem focusing on batterers, rather than victims. While society intuitively wants to take care of the victim, stemming the problem of domestic violence requires work to heal violent men. Quoting the author, "The liberation of violent men from their cycle of destructiveness through their reconciliation to a community of responsibility and care is the prophetic stand that the ecclesial community must take in our contemporary society. It is through responsible healing of violent men that we also advance the liberation of women and children who have suffered from their violence." Well-researched, thoughtful and insightful.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-07-07 00:00:00 Trisha Bredl Unfortunately my progress in this book has been slow but it has nothing to do with the book itself. So far, I appreciate the perspective that Livingston offers in addressing the other side of domestic abuse--the abuser, and his healing and transformation. The approach he has thus far presented is one that holds the abuser accountable for actions, does not deny the reality of abuse (and consequences in terms of the rightness of the end of relationship between abuser and abused, among other things), and works to genuinely raise awareness and transformation in the abuser rather than a false sense of contrition. The thing I am curious about is how this actually looks in a real-life setting, and of course if there are useful parts to take into a life of ministry where one is almost sure to encounter abusive relationships. Livingston is addressing this in terms of how Christian Communities might work alongside abusive men (he focuses on men, not to deny that women can be abusive in relationships, but because the vast majority of cases of domestive abuse involve a male abuser and female abuse-ee), so I am curious what his recommendations are for not only how pastoral leadership might advocate for healing in cases of abuse (without being blanket advocates of reconciliation that typically leads right back into abuse) as well as how the whole church community might also so advocate for right relationships between men and women.