Books on stopping domestic violence....for abusers or potential abusers?

October 6, 2013 11:57 AM

I know there are a lot of great books out there for survivors of domestic violence. Are there any good books out there for survivors who end up abusive themselves, but would not like to be? In particular, I'm thinking adult children of domestic violence, who because they witnessed awful stuff growing up, think that anything not-that-awful is okay.

I know there are a lot of really great books for children, but they're all kind of picture books/YA and center around the child not feeling like a bad person for it happening at all. I'm specifically looking for books around normalizing relationships, empathy with the different forms of abuse, and how it's possible for people who get into abusive patterns to change if they want to.

posted by corb to Human Relations (4 answers total)

Breaking the Cycle of Abuse?
posted by Ouisch at 12:06 PM on October 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Unclenching Our Fists.
posted by lyssabee at 2:42 PM on October 6, 2013

You def want to read the canon, and take a few courses/lectures in the art of Non-Violent Communication.

There's heaps of resources. Start anywhere.
posted by jbenben at 9:01 PM on October 6, 2013

Response by poster: I should clarify, this isn't for me, I'm looking for a gift book I can hand someone that will be enough of an engaging read they won't get frustrated with it. So course/lectures aren't really an option. I'm pretty familiar with DV stuff, but from the female survivor side.
posted by corb at 7:56 AM on October 8, 2013