Social skills training for people who cause violence is a program of learning non-violent communication skills and conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships. 

1. A group for men who commit violence agains women

The group is aimed for all men who commit violence. In the program, they have the opportunity to learn how to take responsibility for their violent behaviour and to work intensively on changing inadequate beliefs and behaviours and to develop non-violent communication skills. The program includes 24 group meetings and several individual counselling sessions.

Men can be included in the programme at their own request or upon the proposal of a centre for social work, Public Prosecutor's Office, Courts, Probation offices or other institutions.

The program is held in nine Slovenian cities: Celje, Koper, Ljubljana, Maribor, Murska Sobota, Novo mesto, Nova Gorica, Radovljica and Slovenj Gradec.

2. Individual counselling for men and adolescents who commit violence

For those men for whom group work is not appropriate there is a possibility of individual sessions with the same topics as are discussed in a group.

The program of individual counselling is also aimed for boys and adolescents aged 14 to 21 who commit violence. They can start the program on the proposal of social work centre, school, boarding school or other institution. Some may have a court order and some decide on their own or because their parents suggest them to.

The program is held in nine Slovenian cities: Celje, Koper, Ljubljana, Maribor, Murska Sobota, Novo mesto, Nova Gorica, Radovljica and Slovenj Gradec.

3. Parent group - Parenting Skills Training

Parenting skills training is aimed at men and women who commit violence to children, neglect them in various ways or lack parental skills and need additional knowledge on parenting. In the program, parents have the opportunity to recognize their inappropriate patterns and get a chance to learn appropriate parenting skills and take responsibility for their behaviour. The training includes 24 weekly meetings of 90 minutes. Currently the program is available only in Ljubljana.

Programmes for perpetrators have the following objectives:

To increase safety and quality of victims’ life.

1. To encourage men who commit violence against women, to face the consequences of their violent behaviour, take responsibility for violent behaviour and begin to think critically about their expectations of people against whom they use violence.
2. That perpetrators of violence achieve better understanding and recognition of different forms of violence against women, which is a direct consequence of the basic structural inequality in gender relations. Violence against women is rooted in patriarchal cultures and traditions that are based on expectations and beliefs of men that they should establish power and control over women.
3. To learn nonviolent communication and constructive conflict resolution, including: a better understanding of the consequences of violence, the dynamics of violent behaviour, increased emotional literacy, awareness of the need to accept responsibility for the violence as a condition to change violent behaviour, to achieve an equal partnership, to understand and apply responsible parenting methods for men who have children.

Although many victims of intimate partnership violence also experience sexual violence, we created a new programme for all victims of sexual abuse. Some might have experienced sexual violence outside intimate partnership and some want to talk about sexual violence that they experienced as children. 

In cooperation with parents, schools and centres for social work, we organize help for children and youth, victims of violence.

We provide two different programmes:

1. A regular socializing with a trained volunteer
A trained volunteer meets a child every week and hangs out with them. We adjust the activities to the child’s interests, abilities, wishes and needs. Our goal is to offer a child a positive experience of a relationship with an adult and to offer a child an experience of being able to trust an adult and to have his/her full attention. A volunteer encourages child’s positive self-assessment, non-violent ways of dealing with conflicts and assertive reactions. Moreover, a volunteer sets a good example for the child’s social skills development. They try to interest a child in school and out of school activities and help him/her to develop talents.

Meetings often take place at school, at the child’s home or other prearranged places. We try to make these socializing more interesting with trips, games, talks, museum visits, cinema and puppet shows.

2. Individual counselling

A counsellor meets a child once a week for an hour. The structure of an individual counselling depends on the child’s age, interests and problems. The main goal is to build a safe and trustful relationship between a child and a counsellor. A counsellor encourages child’s positive self-assessment, non-violent way of dealing with conflicts and assertiveness. She creates a safe place where a child can work on different issues connected to their experience with violence.