Ethical Practice and Narratives of Resistance to Violence: Becoming Resilient Part 2

• Published in: Australian and New Zealand journal of family therapy Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 271 - 282
• Main Author: Jenkins, Alan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Cambridge University Press 01.12.2011; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Deleuze; ethics; Narrative therapy; narratives; resilience; Resilience (Personality trait); Social aspects; Systemic therapy (Family therapy); therapy; Violence; narratives; Deleuze; ethics; resilience; therapy; violence
• ISSN: 0814-723X; 1467-8438
• DOI: 10.1375/S0814723X00001881

This paper is the second part of a previous publication in this journal and is based on a plenary address at the 30th Australian Family Therapy Conference in 2009. It develops the idea of ethical practice in therapy for men and boys with a history of significant violence and abuse. This fosters a connection with resilience that resists or refuses to participate in historical narratives that support violence and its effects. In the paper, I provide several therapeutic examples of working with narratives of violence and present a theory of resilience and ethical practice drawing on the ideas of Deleuze. This helps to understand resilience as a process of ethical agency, creative renewal, and the production of expansive difference.