Sexual Assault Prevention Workshops and Trainings

Alan D. Berkowitz, Ph.D.


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Alan D. Berkowitz is a nationally recognized leader, trainer, lecturer, and scholar in the development of rape prevention programs, in fostering men’s responsibility for preventing violence against women, and in creating healthy and just communities and workplaces. He is often a keynote speaker for regional and national meetings and has consulted for the Department of Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and numerous state coalitions against sexual assault and health departments. He has been the recipient of five national awards in recent years for his work in the sexual assault prevention, drug prevention, violence prevention and diversity/prejudice reduction. In addition, Alan frequently lectures on college campuses to men and/or women about sexual assault prevention, including at first-year orientation, to student leaders, athletes, and at all-campus presentations.

Selected Workshop and Lecture Topics:

Working with Men to Prevent Sexual Assault. This session reviews innovative programs that have been developed to reduce men’s proclivity to rape and discusses issues arising from men’s involvement as partners in prevention. Topics to be covered include: essential program elements, effective facilitation strategies, single-sex versus co-ed workshop, and strategies for developing effective partnerships with men.

Negotiating Difficult Boundaries: Issues of Distance and Closeness in the Helping Relationship. All of us struggle with issues of closeness and distance in relationships, and at times these issues become problematic in our role as helpers. This session takes an honest look at the dynamics, issues, and human needs that are part of any helping relationship to illuminate why boundary violations of any kind occur and when we are at risk of committing them.

Sexual Assault Prevention Dilemmas: Past Accomplishments and Future Directions. This session reviews critical cutting edge issues facing the sexual assault prevention field in light of progress in the past decade. What are the challenges facing us now and what are some solutions?

Promoting Consent, Preventing Coercion: What Men and Women Can Do to Prevent Sexual Assault. Men and women both must take responsibility for preventing sexual assault, but in different ways. This lecture presents guidelines for relationships in which sexual activity is mutual, uncoerced, and consenting, helps explain men's fear of false accusation, and outlines steps both men and women can take to prevent sexual assault and intervene in risky situations. (for mixed gender audiences).

Is Rape Prevention A Men's Issue? This lecture outlines reasons why men must take responsibility for preventing sexual assault. What do men feel about this issue and about the politics of sexual behavior? What can men do to address our fear of false accusation? How do men feel about the way other men talk about women and sex? This lecture is designed to address men's concerns about sexual assault and provide guidelines for consenting sexual intimacy. (for all male groups, including general audiences, male professionals, and members of men's groups - including fraternities and athletic teams - and male faculty and staff.)

Is What I Want What You Want? Promoting Consent and Preventing Coercion in Intimate Relationships. What can men and women do to ensure that all sexual intimacy is mutual, uncoerced and consenting? What are guidelines for ensuring that consent is present? This lecture provides guidelines for what men can do to prevent rape and what women can do to reduce their risk of victimization, and what we can all do to create healthy campuses where sexual assault is uncommon.

Transforming Rape Culture Through Social Norms Media. This presentation provides an overview and critical analysis of contemporary public health and media campaigns to prevent sexual assault. The social norms approach to media is presented and illustrated. This approach can be utilized to foster men’s responsibility for sexual assault prevention, using media to promote healthy protective behaviors, censor men who engage in risky behavior, and undermine rape culture.

Taking Back the Night: What it Means for Men and Women. “Take Back the Night” marches are common on college campuses and in communities. This keynote address takes a careful look at the different roles women and men can play in Take Back the Night activities, focusing on men’s role as allies in ending violence against women, and on what it means for women to “take back the night.”

Preventing and Adjudicating Controversial Sexual Assault Cases: A Workshop for Hearing Boards. Individuals hearing sexual assault charges need to have a clear understanding of issues of consent, responsibility, and evidence. This workshop provides an overview of issues that are often difficult for hearing board to resolve and provides guidelines for addressing them.

Men’s Role and Responsibility in Preventing Violence Against Women. What can men do to provide leadership in transforming our workplaces and communities so that violence against women is not tolerated? How can we be effective allies to women in this work? This session explores what steps we can personally take as men to be part of the solution to this problem.

What are Men Up to Anyway? Many women in the movement to end violence against women are skeptical, concerned and/or curious about what men are doing to end violence against women and how it is being done. This presentation provides a critical look at men’s role, responsibilities and accountability to women in doing this work.

Each workshop can be adapted to any size group or length of time. All of my workshops are individually tailored to meet the needs of each audience.

Alan David Berkowitz is an independent consultant who helps colleges, universities, and communities design programs that address health and social justice issues. He is frequently asked to consult for institutions of higher education, the Federal government, military academies, rape crisis centers and sexual assault coalitions. He is well-known for his scholarship and innovative programming and is the founder and editor of The Report on Social Norms.

Comments from Sexual Assault Prevention Workshop Evaluations

“Alan was excellent”

“This was awesome”

“This was the best workshop I have attended”

“Dr. Berkowitz was especially a non-threatening sensitive presenter”

“Best session I’ve attended by far. Alan is articulate, thoughtful and knowledgeable.”

“Thank you for your participation in our recent workshop and especially for your powerful, effective keynote address. Over and over again I have received positive comments about your speech; it is particularly impressive that the comments are coming from a wide variety of individuals from different job perspectives and responsibilities. That is a strong compliment to your research and your effectiveness as a speaker.”

“On behalf of the NC Rape Prevention Program, NC Department of Health and Human Services, and the NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault, thank you for an outstanding workshop… We were very impressed by both the content and process of the workshop…Your presentations exhibited a wealth of expertise in rape prevention as well as your passion for this work… With an audience of 80-plus people and complex, highly charged material to cover, the workshop could have easily gotten off track. You skillfully kept the discussion on track and covered every topic on the agenda, an impressive accomplishment. Your openness, honesty and warmth were wonderful and kept the large group thoroughly engaged. You are a brilliant thinker and penetrated the heart of each person’s question with marvelous accuracy.”

“Thank you for a superb workshop. My respect for you as a man who has “done his homework” on sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. and continues to do so knows no bounds. The stimulation of your ideas and the sharing of others has my heart and mind going full speed… I know we will incorporate many of your ideas into our work in the coming year.”

“Thank you for your recent training for CONNSACS. It was described by most participants as “excellent.” This is a difficult group for which to plan trainings because they are of varied skill and knowledge levels. However, we obviously succeeded.”

“Great job. Excellent presentation style, substantive, approachable and affirming”

“The consultation was so helpful, it really turned us around!”


Selected Publications

Working with Men to Prevent Violence Against Women (In two parts), Part 1: An Overview, and Part II: Program Modalities and Formats. National Resource Center on Domestic Violence Electronic Network Applied Research Forum (VAWnet): www.vawnet.org 2004

The Social Norms Approach: Theory, Research and Annotated Bibliography. Posted on the Higher Education Center Social Norms website www.edc.org/hec/socialnorms/. 2004.

Applications of Social Norms Theory to Other Health and Social Justice Issues. Ch 16 in H. Wesley Perkins (Ed). The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. 2003.

The Social Norms Approach to Violence Prevention. Appendix to “Young Men as Allies in Preventing Violence and Abuse: Building Effective Partnerships with Schools” by Alan Berkowitz, Peter Jaffe, Dean Peacock, Barri Rosenbluth & Carole Sousa. Available from the Family Violence Prevention Fund’s Building Partnerships to End Men’s Violence Website at: www.endabuse.org/bpi, 2003 (click on “Online Discussion Series”).

Engaging Men as Social Justice Allies in Ending Violence Against Women: Evidence for a Social Norms Approach. (with PM Fabiano, HW Perkins, J Linkenbach, and C Stark. Journal of American College Health, 52(3):105-112, 2003.

Fostering Men’s Responsibility for Preventing Sexual Assault. Chapter 7 in Paul A. Schewe. (Ed). Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: Developmentally Appropriate Interventions Across the Lifespan. Washington, American Psychological Press. 2002

Guidelines for Consent in Intimate Relationships. In Campus Safety and Student Development, Vol 3(4): 49-50, March/April 2002.

Critical Elements of Sexual-Assault Prevention and Risk-Reduction Programs for Men and Women. Chapter 4 in Christopher Kilmartin, Sexual Assault in Context, Teaching College Men About Gender. Holmes Beach: Learning Publications (available from the author). 2001

Men and Rape: Theory, Research, and Prevention Programs in Higher Education. (Editor) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.

The Role of Coaches in Rape Prevention Programs for Athletes. In Parrot, A., Cummings, N., & Marchell, T. (Eds.). Rape 101: Sexual Assault Prevention for College Athletes. Holmes Beach: Learning Publications, 1994.

College Men as Perpetrators of Acquaintance Rape and Sexual Assault. Journal of American College Health, 1992, 40:175-181.


Selected Presentations and Keynote Addresses

“Collaboration and Coalition: Developing Male Leadership to Challenge Men’s Violence Against Women.” Keynote address at the New England College Sexual Assault Network, Bridgewater State College, April 28, 1995.

“Working With Men: Guidelines for Effective Rape Prevention Programs.” Presented at the 7th International Conference on Sexual Assault and Harassment on Campus. Orlando, FL, October 16-18, 1997

“Characteristics of Men Who Perpetrate Violence Against Women.” Presented at the Violence Against Women Conference, hosted by the Missouri Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Osage Beach, MO, August 20, 1998.

“Relationship Ethics: “Hooking-Up” and Other Intimate Connections” (with Chip Capraro). Presented at: Coeducation for the 21st Century: A Working Conference on Educating Men and Women for the Future. Wheaton College, Norton, MA. October 30-31, 1998.

“Working with Men in a Co-ed Environment.” (with Chip Capraro). Presented at: Coeducation for the 21st Century: A Working Conference on Educating Men and Women for the Future. Wheaton College, Norton, MA. October 30-31, 1998.

“Sexual Violence Prevention Training” A two-day workshop hosted by the New Mexico Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the New Mexico Department of Health, Albuquerque, NM, August 26-27, 1999.

“Effective Sexual Assault Prevention Programming: Meeting the Needs of Men and Women.” A two-day training hosted by the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the North Carolina Department of Human Services. North Carolina State University, March 16-17, 1999.

“Working With Men to Prevent Sexual Assault.” Presented at: Clergy Response to Sexual Violence hosted by the Rape Crisis of the Southern Tier, Coopers Plains, NY, November 9, 1999.

“Negotiating Difficult Boundaries: Issues of Distance and Closeness in the Helping Relationship.” Presented at: Clergy Response to Sexual Violence hosted by the Rape Crisis of the Southern Tier, Coopers Plains, NY, Tuesday, November 9, 1999.

“The Social Norms Approach: Applications to Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention.” Presented at the Department of Justice Crimes Against Women on Campuses Technical Assistance Institute, Tucson, AZ, January 23-25, 2000.

“Building Constructive Working Relationships Across Gender and Other Identities.” Presented at the Department of Justice Crimes Against Women on Campuses Technical Assistance Institute, Tucson, AZ, January 23-25, 2000.

“A New Way to Think About Prevention.” Keynote address presented at the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault Prevention Summit, Anaheim, CA, July 11-12, 2000.

“Critical Elements of Sexual Assault Prevention and Risk Reduction Programs for Men and Women.” Keynote address at “Sexual Assault Prevention Education Seminar and Networking Meeting, hosted by the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Denver, CO, December 6-7, 2000.

“Sexual Assault Prevention Dilemmas: Past Accomplishments and Future Directions.” Keynote address at “Sexual Assault Prevention Education Seminar and Networking Meeting, hosted by the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Denver, CO, December 6-7, 2000.

“Critical Elements of Rape Prevention Programs for Boys and Men.” Presented at: Making A Difference, Sexual Assault Programs: What Works and What Doesn’t, hosted by the Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH, February 22-23, 2001

“Changing Social Norms: Fostering Boys and Young Men’s Responsibility for Preventing Sexual Assault.” Presented at: Making A Difference, Sexual Assault Programs: What Works and What Doesn’t, hosted by the Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH, February 22-23, 2001,

“Building Strong, Safe Communities.” Staff development workshop presented to the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan, Petosky, MI, September 10, 2001.

“Men’s Work to End Violence Against Women.” Presented at “Thus Far By Faith: Healing the Effects of Oppression, hosted by the Black Church and Domestic Violence Institute. Atlanta, GA, February 15-17, 2002.

“Applying Social Norms Theory to Sexual Violence Prevention.” Presented at the 2002 National Sexual Violence Prevention Conference hosted by the CDC, Chicago, IL, May 28-31, 2002.

“Working With Men to Prevent Sexual Assault: Critical Issues and Controversies.” Presented at the 2002 National Sexual Violence Prevention Conference hosted by the CDC, Chicago, IL, May 28-31, 2002.

References

Joanne Archambault
Training Director, SATI, Inc.
Sexual Assault Training and Investigations
509 684-9800, e-mail: joanne@mysati.com

Alan McEvoy
Department of Sociology
Wittenburg College
amcevoy@wittenberg.EDU

Kay Buck, Director
Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST)
5042 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 586
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 365-1906 ext. 14
kay@castla.org