Battered Hearts
By Creed Spencer

We still frequently believe that the signs of domestic abuse will be visible on the faces and bodies of its victims. Yet years of experience and research should have taught us that abuse may take on other, more insidious forms. The spectrum of domestic violence includes a range of devastating verbal, psychological, and emotional assaults which partners use to intimidate and control their spouses, children and other family members.

In this compelling documentary, survivors of domestic abuse convey their feelings of inadequacy, isolation, and helplessness resulting from abuse — both physical and emotional — they have suffered at the hands of their partners. One survivor notes that she felt the abuse was normal because it was so pervasive and persistent both in her family and in her community; she now volunteers for a community action group focused on breaking the silence about domestic abuse. But the program begins and ends with men who abuse. In interviews with batterers themselves, they describe the frustration, the need for power and control and, in many cases, the abuse in their own earlier lives that led them to using physical and psychological abuse to dominate their family members. Several admit that when they realized they had a problem with abuse, they could not find programs outside of the criminal justice system to help them stop.

Battered Hearts also profiles group therapy approaches and intervention programs, as well as community-based coalitions working to bring awareness, help and healing to both victims of domestic abuse and their abusers.

27 minutes
© 2005
Purchase $219 DVD
Order No. QA-430
ISBN (DVD) 1-57295-814-6

Awards & Conference Screenings
Western Psychological Association

Related Films
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Stories No One Wants to Hear: An experimental documentary combining interviews and poetic video art to explore the process of remembering childhood trauma: incest by mothers and siblings.

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To rent or purchase this film, please visit the Icarus Films website

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