Some marriage and relationship education curricula directly address domestic violence. Other curricula resources, such as videos, may be appropriate to supplement a marriage/relationship education curriculum. Messages need to be appropriate for the audience and setting; some examples are listed below.
- Exploring Relationships and Marriage with Fragile Families
The Center for Urban Families (CFUF) in Baltimore, MD, a nationally respected program providing a range of employment and support services to non-custodial, low-income fathers, and their partners, has over the years built a strong partnership with the House of Ruth in Maryland, the largest, most comprehensive domestic violence program in the area. This partnership has resulted in a number of joint activities in addition to the development of a curriculum. - The Survival Skills for Healthy Families and Strongest Link: The Couple and Families Affected by Domestic Violence
Family Wellness Associates in Salida, CA has developed three widely used relationship, marriage and family education and enrichment programs tailored for use in multi-cultural environments and a variety of settings. The curricula they wrote include additional lesson plans that address domestic violence. Strategies for addressing domestic violence and strategies that are of particular use for families in the military and law enforcement are presented. - Love Notes: Making Relationships Work is a healthy relationship program for youth ages 16-24 available from the Dibble Institute in Berkley, CA. The curriculum comprises 15 lessons designed to help young people make wise relationship and sexual choices and avoid the troubled, unsafe relationships and unplanned pregnancies which can so often derail their progress in school. The program is designed to help young people learn to recognize the early warning signs of abuse and unhealthy relationships, but importantly also teaches them to become clearer about the kind of positive healthy relationship they want to have and gives them the skills to achieve it.
- Within My Reach is a relationships skills and decision making program for individuals, especially tailored for those who have struggled with economic disadvantage. Developed by Prep Inc. in Denver, CO, it includes messages throughout on promoting safety and addressing domestic violence.
Educational Videos:
- Something My Father Would Do - Overcoming Legacies of Family Violence Directed by John Badalament for Futures Without Violence (2008)
This fifteen-minute documentary shows the stories of three men who grew up with abusive fathers and had to grapple with their own behaviors as intimate partners and fathers. This educational film was originally directed to fathers who have used violence and designed to be used in supervised visitation centers. However, practitioners have used it effectively in a variety of settings, including batterers intervention programs, responsible fatherhood groups, child welfare, groups for adolescents and the criminal justice system.