Episode 24: The healing power of survivor impact panels
Survivors deserve a variety of options for support, justice and healing.
In this episode, Ruth and David interview a survivor, practitioner and researcher involved with US-based survivor impact panels. Janette Barcenas is a survivor whose healing journey was strengthened by her participation in survivor impact panels and one-on-one dialogs with people who had chosen violence.
She speaks about how much she gained from choosing to participate in these processes. Matt Johnston, a manager of these dialog programs, describes how the structure of these programs help both survivors and perpetrators.
Our third guest, Dr. Kate Sacket Kerrigan shares the research results including the increases in empathy, guilt and a greater understanding of partners’ perspectives by perpetrators.
In the show, the guests talk about:
- How the dialogs and survivor panels worked
- How survivors’ needs were at the center of the processes
- How perpetrators’ may have benefitted from the dialogs and panels.
If you want to learn more about this approach you can reach out to mattjohnstonlpc@gmail.com or ksackett@pdx.edu. Or check out the SCARS (Survivor Collective Alliance, Reaching Society) website. To read about the intervention: Sackett Kerrigan, K. & Mankowski, E. S. (2020). How surrogate impact panels function in the context of intimate partner violence: A mixed-methods study. Victims & Offenders, DOI: 10.1080/15564886.2020.1764427To extend your learning: Episode 17: Choose to Change: Your Behavior, Your Choice’: A new community-based men’s behavior change toolkitEpisode 18: Survivors aren’t Broken! An intimate discussion about support and partnership in relationshipsEpisode 20: Partnering with Survivors Using Restorative Practices: An interview with Dr. Eloise SepedaIn our Virtual Academy: Working with Men as Parents: Fathers' Parenting Choices Matter
More About The Podcast
You asked, we answered. Amidst our current, global political and social upheavals, during movements, activism and testimonies, during legal cases, fear and victim-blaming - we’ve heard your voice asking for clarity, insight and thoughts about how all of this is reflected in the Safe & Together Model. Many of the stories and news pieces we hear about from our partners all over the world involve complex questions, yet the beginnings of change and hope are based on the sound, simple principles of the Model.To that end, in our new podcast, “Partnered with a Survivor,” S&T’s Executive Director and Founder, David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel offer a raw and intimate glimpse into their personal and professional partnership and what it means to truly partner with a survivor, raise a family based on S&T principles and engage in social change at every level. This is a podcast for practitioners and parents, partners and employers, coworkers and friends - and anyone else who may want clarity, understanding, hope and healing.What does it mean to give consistent consent? What is coercive control? How do you probably see it or feel it every day? This is a podcast you’ll wish you had heard when you were a teenager. In unsure, confusing times, it’s our goal to widen the audience for the Safe & Together Model-associated material to survivors, their family members, and even perpetrators. For professionals familiar with the Model, it will offer another angle on the issues addressed by the Model. For those who don't know Safe & Together, it offers a connection to the themes and ideas behind the work.These podcasts are a reflection of Ruth & David’s on-going conversations which are both intimate and professional and touch on complex topics like how systems fail victims and children, how victims experience those systems, and how children are impacted by those failures. Their discussions delve into how society views masculinity and violence, and how intersectionalities such as cultural beliefs, religious beliefs and unique vulnerabilities impact how we respond to abuse and violence. These far-ranging discussions offer an insider look into how we navigate the world as professionals, as parents and as partners. During these podcasts, David & Ruth challenge the notions which keep all us from moving forward collectively as systems, as cultures and as families into safety, nurturance and healing.*Trigger Warning: Some of the topics discussed in the next 30 min are deeply personal and sensitive, which may be difficult for some people. We also use mature language to describe some feelings. Finally, we use gender pronouns like “he” when discussing perpetrators and “she” for victims for two reasons: 1.) statistically, more men are perpetrators than are women when it comes to domestic violence, abuse and coercive control; and 2. For clarity's sake, sticking with one pronoun causes less confusion for the listener. We know there are many men who are in abusive relationships and we are not invalidating their situations.About the podcasters: David and Ruth are committed to creating systems and cultures of nurturance and safety. David Mandel founded the Safe & Together Institute which trains systems in domestic violence aware practices from a child safety lens. Ruth Reymundo Mandel is a survivor of complex abuse, child abuse and domestic abuse growing up in a cult. She is a former teacher and trainer using her experience to clarify messages and complexities around abuse and survivors.