HCP TlTm TPfTft 7f)f) &i " m(V)TP
analogous to alcoholism.
"The men will slip," he said.
"Most men who enter the pro
gram stop their violence for the
period of counseling and for be
tween six months to a year after
the counseling ends. Then the
battering tends to start up again."
Garmatz said that the pro
gram's success is jn disrupting
the cycle of violence. The vio
lence does not occur as fre
quently as it would without the
program.
Garmatz said that what the
program does provide is hope
for women who are battered.
The women in most cases love
these men and only want the vio
lence to end.
"Because they don't get beat
up as often, the women are able
to say how they feel, they are not
n o vttn rra t
as afraid, and not as controlled
(by the abuser)," he said.
Garmatz said that he views
violence in all its forms physi
cal, verbal, psychological, emo
tional, property damage, and
sexual "as nothing less than
tools used to control women.
"The analogy often used for
battered women is that of a pri
soner of war," Garmatz said.
Abuse hss Immediate effsct3
These women are often told
when to sleep, eat, when to pre
pare meals and what to prepare,
who they can visit and when,
and have their money controlled
by the men who beat them.
Garmatz said that this has two
immediate effects on the women.
They are in constant fear for
their physical safety and con
stantly on edge, not knowing
when an argument will escalate
into physical violence.
"Most men who batter know
they are doing something which
is not healthy," Garmatz said.
"What the program does is to try
to get them to be honest about
their problem."
Garmatz said that the program
serves about 140 men each year
in Lincoln and the Lancaster
area. The majority of the men
who enter the program do so
because their partners have left
them or threatened to leave them,
he said.
Only about 1 0 to 20 percent of
the men entering the program
are on probation. Garmatz said,
that these men are more difficult
to work with because they are
angry at being involved in the
court process and not as willing
to admit they have a problem.
For more serious cases, the
attorney can request a present
ence investigation to study the
case more in depth, Thorson
said. This gives the victim an
opportunity to offer input on
what types of sentencing may be
best for the defendant.
Thorson said a pretrial diver
sion program is available in situa
tions where the defendant doesn't
have a background of assault,
and admits to the charge. If the
defendant passes screening for
the program, they sign a con
tract to attend counseling for up
to one year.
The charges are then dis
missed unless the defendant dis
continues counseling, then
charges are refiled, Thorson said.
