Practices Within a NOMAS Model DV Offender Program
NOMAS Model DV Offender Programs incorporate several key practices:
Staffing
Classroom practices
Beyond the Classroom
Communicating with mandating agencies
Communicating with the larger community
Staffing
- Programs may use different terms or language to refer to their staff: some use facilitators, some use instructors, etc. We discourage use of terms that imply mental health or treatment approaches, such as counselor, therapist, etc.
- Prerequisites:
- A desire / willingness
- An openness to learning a perspective well enough to share it with others in a manner that is authentic and compelling
- A willingness to explore one’s own belief system
- Availability to engage in ongoing training
There are no educational or specific background or gender requirements to be an instructor.
- Preparation and ongoing training:
The NOMAS Model works best with ongoing training / discussion / interaction on patriarchy and related issues of oppression. An initial training cycle for new instructors is ideal. For example, this could be as little as 10 – 12 hours of training sessions. This would best be followed by a continuance of ongoing weekly training / supervision. In reality, we recognize the difficulty of maintaining such a schedule, and we recommend ongoing monthly or bi-monthly as the minimum. The key is that it is ongoing and consistent.
It is through this process that staff develop a depth of understanding. Their understanding of and personal belief in the material is the best qualification for being credible and effective in conveying the material.
- Managing the misconception that the goal of the classes is to get the individual men to change:
It is normative that staff come into the program with the idea that their job is to get the men to change. This is a fallacy that must be avoided. Instead, the goal is to present material that clarifies that any man who wishes to change abusive behavior is capable of doing so. In other words, the responsibility of behavioral change is on the participant, NOT on the staff.
The more a facilitator’s own need for the participant to stop being abusive is present, the harder it is for the participant to realize that the impact will be on his life and the life of his family.
Staff needs to maintain focus on teaching that the participants’ abusive behavior harms the participants’ partners, their children, their families, and themselves.
