Adrienne Villondo
Professor Lewis
Dance 260
December 9, 2017
Movement and Dancing: Healing Victims of Domestic Violence
It is frightening when poor actions become a “normal” facet of society. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines domestic violence as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." About 1 in 3 women (35%) worldwide have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime (WHO). The victims of domestic violence also include children who are witnesses to these violent interactions. Children who grow up in families where domestic violence is present are inclined to suffer from various behavioral and emotional issues. Exposure to domestic violence has also been linked to a child’s likelihood to participate in violent crime in adult years. Unfortunately, the statistics of domestic abuse has directly increased with the increase of widely available violent media. It can be incredibly discouraging to hear the statistics of domestic violence. However, there are ways to combat its harmful effects and assist those who are victims of the violence. According to the World Health Organization, strategies and programs that have been shown to benefit victims of domestic violence include those that promote communication and relationship skills. Dance is an invaluable resource for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Dance therapy and movement provides a way for those who are effected by domestic violence to express their often silenced voices, build safe relationships, and strengthen mental health.
Speaking Without Words
Dancing provides an outlet for victims of domestic violence to be heard. It is vital that victims of abuse are able to express their emotions after trauma. Traumatic experiences have been found to silence the sufferers. Krantz and Pennebacker (2007) found that “the physiological work of suppressing bodily expression and concealing upsetting thoughts and feelings may be a cumulative stressor with adverse effects on physical and psychological health”. Physical and psychological issues are manifest when a victim is unable to voice their struggles. Studies have shown that children often do not have the emotional capabilities or the parental guidance needed to cope with the stress they experience as a result of watching violent interactions (Kot et el., 1998). Much of an infant’s first interactions with the world are involved with sound. McMahon (1992) suggests that, “The infant responds with its whole body to sound, such as rhythmical heart-beat, or being spoken to or sung to”. It is a beautiful idea that we can connect our first movements and reactions with our ability to recognize sound. The American Dance/Movement Therapy Association (ADTA) have defined dance/movement therapy as “the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of individuals (ADTA website). According to Jung (1971) an emotion that cannot be understood or resolved by cognitive means can often be dealt with by giving it visible shape, like in dancing. When words are not a possible resource, dance can become a successful method of communication.
Better Understanding of Healthy Relationships
Dancing provides a platform for victims of domestic violence to build positive and nurturing relationships. The concept of “learned helplessness” (Walker, 2000) describes how an abused person’s submissive behaviors are determined by their perceptions of reality. These perceptions affect both the person’s decision to leave their abusive situation and also their ability to take the needs steps needed to reorganize their life. According to Walker, victims begin to submit to the idea that their abuser is stronger, more powerful, and all-knowing in comparison to their personal incompetence and weakness. Dance promotes positive physical, cognitive, and emotional relationships. According to White and Schmais (1974), “body movements reflect such personality characteristics as ego, strength, maturity, capacity, and ability to relate to others”. Exploring the use of space provides a way for a person to alter their self-perception and therefore changing the types of relationships that they create. In the same study done by White and Schmais, one emotionally abused woman changed her perception of relationships as she used the space around her through movement and dance. She expressed her improvisational movement as “freeing”. When she raised her arms over her head she stated, “I’m stretching towards a new life.” After her movements, the client talked about interests that had been suppressed during her marriage and made plans to contact people she had not seen in a very long time. Whit and Schamis explained that this is an example of how “changes often occur in movement before they occur in other areas”. This woman transferred the “freeing” feeling that came through movement to her reality. As a result, she had a desire to reconnect with people. It is through small and simple means, such as dancing and movement, that can help a victim make progressive steps towards increased self-esteem and healthy relationships.
Inner Mental Strength
Victims of domestic abuse are effected in more ways than just physically. Although physical scars may disappear with time, mental scars take much longer to heal. There are abused women that turn to treatment thinking that changes will come instantly. However, it takes time to re-build healthy mental mechanisms. A basic level of self-trust has been lost. The dance/movement therapy technique of mirroring can be used to “establish initial trust, to promote a therapeutic alliance, and to support clients with weak ego functioning” (Levy, 1988). A victim of domestic violence needs to “generate options, assess alternatives, and seek personalized solutions”. All of these can be embodied creatively through dance. A creative movement process can help victims of violence reduce self-blame. For example, in a co-led group with a dance/movement therapist, the sufferers of domestic violence acted out the Harriet Tubman story. Ms. Tubman is well-known as one of the legendary “conductors” of the Underground Railroad. She also had an abusive husband. The battered women combined elements of her legend into their own personal stories. The inventiveness and activity inherent in dance/movement therapy can replace ingrained habits of immobilization. passivity and immobilization, taking a step in any direction can be frustratingly difficult and even unimaginable. The one area over which the battered woman does have total control is that of her body . . . it is important for her to begin to build self-esteem and sense of power through body exercise. It is also important to help the battered woman recognize and control her anger. She should be encouraged to experience anger each time it occurs . . . she needs to be taught to feel her anger, control it, and utilize it. (Walker, 1979) At first, the dance therapist reflected the group movement and said “let’s just kick him away.” Obediently the group made a few explosive movements that quickly diminished into unfocused, peripheral gestures. However when told to “just make noise with your feet and legs and use all the space in the room,” exuberant movement and spontaneous group rhythm emerged. The second set of movement directives allowed each woman to express her own version of strength without feeling subtly coerced by the leader’s expectations. While improvising in dance, a survivor of violence creates personal metaphors and makes meaningful connections between dance and life. However, as seen in the example above, premature interpretation of symbolic and non-verbal communication are “. . . liable to foreclose individual process” (Mackay, 1989, p.300). Open-ended dance directives—i.e., exploring movement polarities suchas near and far, quickly and slowly, etc.—stimulate individuality even within the support of the group setting. As the client responds, without superimposed movement from the therapist or group, individual resources are contacted, which in turn generates a personal “route to change” (Blanche Evan,personal communication DMT training class, October, 1982).
Conclusion