Published: June 24, 2008
Dr. Linda Mills chats with Judyth Piazza about the Center on Violence at NYU
By Judyth Piazza 
Linda G. Mills, J.D., Ph.D., is Founder of the Center on Violence and Recovery at New York University, where she is also a professor and Senior Vice Provost. She has introduced two groundbreaking treatment programs in the US: Healing Circles and Peacemaking Circles.
The Circle programs bring couples together with family, friends, and community members to address the causes of violence and to develop concrete steps to ending the cycle of abuse.
Mills has appeared on Oprah, Bill Moyers` Now, and The O`Reilly Factor and has been featured in the Boston Globe, the New York Times Magazine, and her op-eds have appeared in USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and Newsday. She lives in New York City and can be found on the web at: www.nyu.edu/cvr.
VIOLENT PARTNERS
A Breakthrough Plan for Ending the Cycle of Abuse
In the 30 years since the feminist movement first raised our national awareness of domestic violence, we've seen a massive shift in the way society views what was once considered a private family matter. The criminal justice system is no longer blind to the dangers of intimate abuse: when incidents of domestic violence are reported, perpetrators are immediately arrested, separated from their families, and either jailed or enrolled in batterer intervention programs. Despite this progress, Linda G. Mills, lawyer, social worker, feminist, and survivor of an abusive relationship argues that the current approach to addressing domestic violence still leaves millions of people without the help or support they need.
In violent partners: A Breakthrough Plan for Ending the Cycle of Abuse (Basic Books; June 9, 2008; Hardcover), Mills reveals that:
The Centers for Disease Control reports domestic violence as a serious, preventable public health problem affecting more than 32 million Americans-12 percent of marriages in America experience a physically violent relationship While most domestic violence advocates focus their efforts on battered women, more than 800,000 men are assaulted by their intimate partners every year
Intimate partner violence results in nearly 2 million injuries in the US annually
Despite the fact that billions of dollars are poured into the criminal justice system to prevent domestic violence, over 85 percent of women and nearly 90 percent of men do not call the police when their partners are violent
Although crime statistics have led us to believe that men are almost always the sole perpetrators of intimate abuse, Violent Partners uncovers a far more complex story in which both partners often participate in a dynamic of abuse. Mills does not excuse violence, nor does she encourage those who are experiencing abuse to stay with the partners who are hurting them. Yet many of the couples who share their stories and family histories in Violent Partners do not want to end their relationships - instead, they are looking for resources that will help them stop the abuse. As an alternative, Mills develops a response that engages and treats everyone caught up in the violent dynamic.
Mills offers a radically new approach to violence and recovery that respects the wishes of couples and families who want to work through their experiences together. In doing so, she challenges every assumption we have developed about family and intimate abuse - and provides a framework for recovery within the family as a whole and beyond.
The American Perspective is a cutting edge radio program that is full of inspiration and information. It's intended to help people succeed in life. Each week the American Perspective features celebrity guests from around the nation such as Zig Ziglar, Yolanda King, Billy D. Williams, Tony Little, Mark Victor Hansen, Dave Ramsey and many many more.
"It's the next generation of Inter-tainment"
For More Information contact Judyth Piazza at judy@thesop.org.
Source: The Student Operated Press
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