|
ADVANCE
In the United States we enjoy levels of personal freedom significantly higher
than is experienced by most people in our world. Unfortunately, our country also
has one of the highest rates of personal violence, and a significant portion of
that violence happens within intimate partnerships and families. Domestic violence
harms people and relationships every day. Domestic violence is a crime.
ADVANCE (Avoiding Domestic Violence, Affirming Non-Controlling Efforts) is a domestic abuse intervention program that seeks to provide enhanced safety
and reduced risk of violence for victims of domestic abuse by working with the
batterers/abusers. The program provides the opportunity, information and skills
training to make it possible for clients to end their abuse and learn to be non-violent
and non-controlling in their interpersonal relationships.
ADVANCE uses the curriculum entitled "Creating a Process of Change for Men Who Batter," developed in Duluth, Minnesota. This model is based on the understanding that
domestic violence is NOT caused by anger, mental illness, or addiction. Rather,
domestic violence is rooted in a belief system of male entitlement and is used
by some men to establish, maintain or protect their power and control over their
partners and/or children. After an initial assessment process, the program consists
of 26 weekly group sessions lasting 2 hours each week.
The primary ADVANCE program is for men, since about 95% of the violence is perpetrated
by men. However, ADVANCE also has a group "Women Choosing Non-Violence" for women
who have used violence in interpersonal relationships. The women's program is
significantly different from the men's because women nearly always use violence
for different reasons and in different ways than men do. However, the goal of
both programs is to end the use of violence and abuse in relationships and families
and to foster healthy, non-violent relationships based on equality, mutual respect,
and personal accountability.
ACCESS-York, Inc., the local domestic violence program for victims, supports
the efforts of ADVANCE, endorses the curriculum, and monitors the ADVANCE program
on an ongoing basis.
Fees paid by clients are based on a sliding scale, and the program is subsidized
by Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania, the local United Way,
contributions from churches and individuals and some grants.
A United Way Partner Agency.
For more information on ADVANCE, contact our Program Director by email or phone 717-852-9706.
ADVANCE
750 Kelly Drive, York, PA 17404
717-852-9706
Email advance@lutheranscp.org
|
Acts of domestic violence occur every 15 seconds in the U.S.A.
Nearly a third of all female homicide victims are killed by their husbands or
boyfriends.
In 2007, more than half of Pennsylvania's counties experienced lethal cases of
domestic violence. The total number of deaths in Pennsylvania as a result of domestic
violence in 2007 was 121; 95 were victims and 26 were perpetrators who committed
suicide or were killed by police.
95% of all spousal assaults are committed by men, and in Pennsylvania the reported
figure is 98%.
6 million American women are beaten each year by their husbands and boyfriends.
4,000 of them are killed.
Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, more frequent than auto
accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
Children in domestic violence homes are physically abused or seriously neglected
at a rate 1500% higher than the general population. Many of them grow up to repeat
the pattern.
|
|
