Loss of self-control as excuse in group-therapy conversations for intimately violent men

This article examines the constructions of loss of self-control by male perpetrators of intimate violence in therapy-group conversations. It looks at discursive strategies used by therapists and clients in therapy-group negotiations concerning the issue of self-control. The data are part of a larger corpus of videotaped and transcribed recordings of treatment groups for male perpetrators and consists of four treatment group processes. The analysis concentrates on episodes of self-control talk where a participant referred to loss of self-control when accounting for his violent behavior. The loss of self-control was found to be a fundamental constituent of excuses and was used to account for the clients' behavior in past violent situations. It allowed the speaker to admit the reprehensible character of his behavior, while denying full responsibility for it. It also permitted the speaker to be portrayed as a responsible person in the present conversational group therapy context. These different representations of the past and present selves gave those presentations the appearance of inconsistency. The therapists used this inconsistency in the clients' talk to challenge the use of loss of self-control as excuse, and thus called for more responsible accounts.