Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i6LE8Kb26391; Wed, 21 Jul 2004 10:08:20 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 10:08:20 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <s0fe4018.068@mailsrv21.gsu.edu> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2970] Re: Domestic Abuse: Our Stories X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.5.1 Status: O Content-Length: 3190 Lines: 78 A friend of mine who is a psychologist and works with survivors of abuse recently read this book and here is what she shared with me about it: It seems like a very good book to recommend to women who are living/working (it includes work abuse) with men who are overtly violent. The stories are brief -- the longest is only about six pages -- so it would be relatively easy for a reader to get a quick taste, and would be good for women who are not especially keen to read. (For that group it's also not too intimidating in terms of language level -- but was still interesting enough for me to finish it, even with its overuse of "that" and other questionable grammar.) I would not recommend it for women who are living in situations that do not include overt violence. Women who are living with a constant threat, who are living in terror of saying no to sex or anything else, but have not been hit, kicked, punched, slapped etc.would likely think that these stories are of the "other," might think their situation qualitatively different from these stories. It may also feel inapplicable to women who have been involved in low-level violence for a long time, e.g. shoving, restraint, "rough-but-not-violent"sex without their consent to the roughness. These women, may also dismiss the similarity of their own situations to those in the book. The situations in the book escalate rapidly (for the most part) to life-threatening violence, and my concern is that the very extremity in the book could lead a woman who does not feel her life is threatened to be LESS likely to apply the (good) lessons of this book to herself -- to actually lean more toward "normalizing" the violence in her own life. The book could cause women who live in chronic low-level violence to be MORE accepting of their situation as normal." >>> dbaycich@literacy.kent.edu 07/08/04 05:31PM >>> I'm forwarding (with permission) an e-mail I received this morning. Hope it will be of interest. "I would very much like to suggest a book to you that I found extremely helpful to me. I was in an abusive relationship for 12 years and I credit this book with opening up my eyes and giving me the courage to leave! I carried this book with me for months and when I felt myself grow weak or discouraged I'd pick it up and read it. I hope that this book can help other women in this situation maybe to also find the courage to leave and stay away. This book is also an excellent read for the families of the victims as well as anyone who wants to read more about abuse. Domestic Abuse: Our Stories by M. Webb ISNB# 1-4137-0720-3." Dianna Baycich Ohio Literacy Resource Center Research I Bld. 1100 Summit St. PO Box 5190 Kent State University Kent, OH 44242 330.672.7841 330.672.4841 (fax) In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983) Daphne Greenberg Associate Director Center for the Study of Adult Literacy MSC 6A0360 Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street SE Unit 6 Atlanta, GA 30303-3086 phone: 404-651-0127 fax:404-651-4901 dgreenberg@gsu.edu
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