Birlinka Men's Behaviour Change - Domestic and Family Violence
An exploration of self, identity, cultural and learned behaviour for a different way of being.
" I never heard anyone tell me before that I wasn't the problem, that the problems is the problem and that I am me. That picture we did really helped me think about things different" Birlinka client
Birlinka (delivered weekly, across two - sixteen weeks programmes)
An Indigenous Australian initiative currently being delivered in partnership with an international development agency to engage Aboriginal men among four regional and remotes communities to reduce and then stop - domestic violence among participants.
Natjul's Birlinka programme has a three-pronged approach to working with men around change behaviour and domestic violence that include:
regular participation in group
individual support, and
coordinated outside influence.
Our twenty years history working among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and community have informed our method and practice for engagement around some of the difficult things to talk about.
For example, when it comes to domestic and family violence our method for engagement is informed by the knowledge that domestic violence does not stand alone in a community. It is influenced and upheld by multiple factors of individual, social - collective, historical contexts that work together to create the conditions where this destructive practice is introduced and sustained.
Our work across regional, remote and urban settings consistently demonstrate the vast majority of men and community want something different-better regarding their lives and experience of domestic and family violence.
Our engagement method is an acknowledgement of that history, circumstance and aspiration.
Thodules:
At Natjul, while we have previously worked with, appreciate and acknowledge the place for structured modules as learning tools to pass on knowledge, our experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities continue to inform that learning presented as a set of linear time limited topics can narrow participant engagement, buy-in, and contextual framing around behaviour change regarding domestic and family violence and anti-social behaviours.
As a result, over time, our facilitative engagements have fused the thematic (themes) and the chronological (modules) to deliver what we refer to as 'Thodules' ie, 'Birlinka is a thoduled engagement method for working with Indigenous men and communities around behaviour change'.
Our use of thodules in our facilitative engagements provide space to introduce non-negotiable topics around domestic violence and anti-social behaviours, however, simultaneously encourage and enable other related important discussions to be included and explored, such as the place and influence of culture, community contexts, extended family relationships, intergenerational experiences, trauma and so on.
Included in this practice underpinned by Indigenous research and engagement methodology, is a commitment to remain vigilant around collusion.