2008 Woodie Awards
RAVEN curbs violence
By: Beth Prusaczyk
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: LifeStyle
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When a few men's groups at Washington University came together in August 1977 to learn about one another, few knew that meeting would result in an agency dedicated to helping and understanding men and violence.
Don Conway-Long, now an assistant professor in the behavioral and social sciences department at Webster, attended the 1977 meeting at Wash U. There, he met Wash U. student Craig Norberg. Conway-Long and Norberg became co-founders of Rape And Violence End Now in October 1978.
RAVEN is still active in St. Louis today. According to Barb Hiltz, the executive director of RAVEN the agency helped organize a Take Back the Night Walk Oct. 13, 2006.
The Take Back the Night Walk is part of RAVEN's ongoing public awareness campaign happening throughout the month of October for Domestic Violence Awareness month.
Changing violent behavior
In November 1977, Conway-Long was a dissertation away from earning his doctorate degree when he attended a conference on men and masculinities Norberg was helping to organize. Conway-Long said he was so affected by the conference that a month later he changed the focus of his studies from history to men and masculinities.
"I was studying other people and it suddenly made sense that I should be looking at what I was," Conway-Long said.
He said he was particularly interested in men's violence because he was exposed to violence while growing up. Since his father was a military chief, his military presence brought violence into the home along with physical abuse of Conway-Long and his mother. Conway-Long also said he had his own troubles in his college years with violence in his relationships.
"I didn't understand why everything I swore I would never do I was doing anyway," Conway-Long said.
So Conway-Long, Norberg and four other men set out to create an agency dealing with men and violence. Conway-Long said in the beginning only one of the six men had training in counseling. However, the lack of training didn't stop the men from developing a program. Conway-Long said for the next year they met, talked, theorized and trained by way of reading books.
Don Conway-Long, now an assistant professor in the behavioral and social sciences department at Webster, attended the 1977 meeting at Wash U. There, he met Wash U. student Craig Norberg. Conway-Long and Norberg became co-founders of Rape And Violence End Now in October 1978.
RAVEN is still active in St. Louis today. According to Barb Hiltz, the executive director of RAVEN the agency helped organize a Take Back the Night Walk Oct. 13, 2006.
The Take Back the Night Walk is part of RAVEN's ongoing public awareness campaign happening throughout the month of October for Domestic Violence Awareness month.
Changing violent behavior
In November 1977, Conway-Long was a dissertation away from earning his doctorate degree when he attended a conference on men and masculinities Norberg was helping to organize. Conway-Long said he was so affected by the conference that a month later he changed the focus of his studies from history to men and masculinities.
"I was studying other people and it suddenly made sense that I should be looking at what I was," Conway-Long said.
He said he was particularly interested in men's violence because he was exposed to violence while growing up. Since his father was a military chief, his military presence brought violence into the home along with physical abuse of Conway-Long and his mother. Conway-Long also said he had his own troubles in his college years with violence in his relationships.
"I didn't understand why everything I swore I would never do I was doing anyway," Conway-Long said.
So Conway-Long, Norberg and four other men set out to create an agency dealing with men and violence. Conway-Long said in the beginning only one of the six men had training in counseling. However, the lack of training didn't stop the men from developing a program. Conway-Long said for the next year they met, talked, theorized and trained by way of reading books.
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