The recent surge of high profile shootings has reinvigorated the debate about violence prevention. Cultural critics across the ideological spectrum have tried to identify what could have caused these tragedies and what can be done to stop them.
Some argue that it’s a failure of the nation’s mental health programs. Others are calling for stricter gun control measures.
These groups and individuals have been largely silent, however, about one common thread that ties these shooters (as well as the vast majority of violent criminals), together: their gender.
“The numbers don’t lie,” said Santa Monica Police Capt. Wendell Shirley.
The statistics certainly do indicate a trend. According to the Department of Justice, men commit about of all assaults and robberies, and 96% of sexual assaults.
Between 1980 and 2008, 80% of murders were committed by men. On a more local level, 83% of those arrested for violent crime in Santa Monica in 2011 were male.
But it isn’t just about assigning blame, it’s about affecting change, Shirley said.
“It’s not male bashing,” said the captain. “It’s identifying a fact, and saying what do we do about it?”
That was the inspiration for the Male Violence Prevention Project. The project is a collaborative effort between various Santa Monica-based anti-violence groups and the Santa Monica Police Department to counter the cultural ideals of violent masculinity perpetuated by sports, music, film and- most importantly- adult role models.
Rather than focusing on young people, as many violence prevention efforts do, the prevention project employs what program director Miguel Perez calls a “top down” approach.
The idea is to target people with influence over young people to try to change the culture of violent masculinity.
That includes people in city government, but also teachers, coaches and parents. Children and young adults can often emulate the behavior of the adults around them.
The responsibility falls on them to model more positive, peaceful patterns of masculinity, according to Pérez.
“Unlike economics, we think it will trickle down,” he said.
The program doesn’t focus solely on leaders. They also encourage what they call the “bystander approach,” which says that it’s the responsibility of coworkers, classmates and peers to stand up for anyone being abused already.
“Everyone has a sphere of influence,” said Ada Palotai, assistant director of Sojourn Services for Battered Women and Their Children, one of the support organizations for Male Violence Prevention.
So far, the program has reached 824 people in the Santa Monica area. It has also sponsored training for 67 local leaders (63% male, 37% female) in how to better implement bystander behavior.
Participants were polled before and after training about their attitudes toward traditional gender roles and the role of bystanders in violence prevention. Even after six months, their responses showed significant change in both their beliefs about traditional gender norms, and the ability for people with influence to affect positive change.
Their efforts haven’t been without resistance.
“A lot of people think [the organization] is anti-male,” Palotai said.
However, representatives of the violence prevention program argue that there’s nothing emasculating about trying to reverse violent masculine stereotypes.
“It doesn’t make you less of a man,” said Perez. “It makes you a better man.”
