Hint of the Month and News Update - June, 2003
 
WORKING WITH ITEMS DEALING WITH ABUSE
(This item appeared in the June 2002 Newsletter
but is repeated here due to its importance)

PREPARE Administrators operate in a wide range of professional categories (eg. psychologist, counsellor, educator, clergy) and should be aware of the ethical and legal requirements that apply to them in that profession in their particular State or Territory.  If you are working with an agency or organization it is important to know and act upon the requirements specified by that group. These comments might be helpful:

Abuse in the Family
PREPARE Administrators should remember that the items dealing with abuse within the family of origin are all of a very general and subjective nature:  Example: “Were you ever abused (verbally, emotionally, physically, or sexually) by your parents?” 

Hence, a person’s response can never be taken to be indicative of a highly specific form of abuse.  Nor is it clear as to whether one or both parents were involved and when.  Responses simply do not provide sufficient information about the nature of the abuse to form the basis for mandatory reporting of present or future forms of criminal activity.

Furthermore, persons completing one of PREPARE-ENRICH inventories are not at risk children.  They are adults who are providing self-report descriptions of their past experience of family.  Even if discussion of item responses provides a more detailed and specific account of past abuse, since the person is not an at risk child, it is unlikely that any State or Territory act requiring mandatory reporting of abuse would be relevant here.  What is important is that the responses provide an opportunity to work carefully and sensitively with the impact that these perceptions might have for a couple’s present and future relationship.  If a person decides that they need to do some personal work on these issues and maybe explore the possibility of taking legal action it is important to refer the person (or couple) to an appropriate professional since it is no longer a matter for relationship counselling or education.

Abuse By Partner
PREPARE Administrators should remember that the items dealing with abuse by a partner are all of a very general nature and involve a subjective perception:  Example: “Have you ever been abused (verbally, emotionally, physically, or sexually) by your partner?” 

Hence, a person’s response can never be taken to be indicative of a highly specific and criminal form of abuse.  As with the case of child abuse, responses simply do not provide sufficient information about the nature of the abuse to form the basis for mandatory reporting of present or future forms of criminal activity.  What is important is that the responses provide an opportunity to work carefully and sensitively with these perceptions.  The abuse might be of an emotional form and not intended to be abusive.  The couple may benefit from exploring this issue and finding better ways to communicate with each other and to avoid unhelpful patterns and processes. 

News Update:  

    The June 2003 issue of the Newsletter, the Prepare Diary, will be released
    on this web site in mid-June at the latest. Brief articles on accreditation policy, relationship educator skills and abilities and an update on Prepare-CC will be included.

    Prepare-CC (for cohabiting couples intending to marry) packs may now be ordered (see the item in the December 2002 newsletter on our website for details). There will also be an update in the June 2003 newsletter.

    Processing  for the old (pre-version 2000) versions of the Prepare-Enrich inventories is no longer available.  If you have not yet updated your accreditation to Version 2000 please see the list of Training Days and update as soon as possible.