Protective Behaviours

Overview

Protective Behaviours is described as working towards creating non-violent individuals, families and communities. It is a practical down to earth approach to personal safety and a process that encourages self-empowerment, bringing with it the skills to raise self-esteem and help people avoid being victimised. This is achieved by enabling individuals recognise and trust their intuitive feelings (Early Warning Signs) and develop strategies for self-protection. The Protective Behaviours process encourages an adventurous approach to life that satisfies the need for fun and excitement without violence and fear.

History

Inception in USA

In the early 1970s Peg Flandreau West, a school social worker in Madison Wisconsin USA, noticed that many children requiring her support seemed to be telling her, in one way or another, how they were not feeling safe. Working with school psychologist Joan Levy and close friend Donna Fortin, she devised a programme to help children recognise when they did not feel safe and to explore what they could do about it. Through networks and sharing the ideas with many people the programme evolved. Flandreau West and colleagues consulted with survivors, professionals, friends, colleagues and anyone who could offer support and advice.

Over the next few years the programme was refined and developed into the Themes, Concepts and Strategies we call Protective Behaviours (PBs). Although there has been some expansion work on context and refinement of the ideas, the core process remains virtually the same today as it was in 1975.

Use of Protective Behaviours in the USA was mainly limited to Wisconsin where schools had been mandated to teach all children some form of abuse prevention. At the time this was considered quite radical as abuse issues were only just starting to come to light and be spoken about in the community. Thus the use of PBs in those days was mainly confined to these issues although individuals used the ideas in other ways as well.

Australia

In Australia in the early 1980′s, Philomena Horsley (who had been working with survivors of sexual assault) wrote to Victoria's then Police Chief Commissioner Mick Miller asking why 'stranger danger' was being taught in schools when their own statistics showed that less than 4% of abuse was perpetrated by strangers. The letter was sent to the Research and Development Department where Inspector Barbara Oldfield, believing something needed to be done urgently, formed the Crime Prevention, Education and Consultancy Group (CPECG). Comprising survivors of abuse, teachers, social welfare, psychologists, doctors, lawyers, police and other interested people, the CPECG looked at many programmes from Australia and overseas that were specifically designed for the prevention of sexual assault.

A while later at a national conference on child abuse prevention, Sgt. Vicki Fraser from the Victoria Police R&D Dept. encountered a manual on Protective Behaviours. Fraser was extremely impressed and showed it to the CPECG members who quickly saw the value to their own areas of interest. Protective Behaviours appeared to be an empowerment process that covered all forms of abuse and could be used with anyone in a variety of ways.

Because of the excitement generated by finding what seemed to them to be such a simple and yet profound process, the CPECG invited Flandreau West to come to Australia. This original training in 1985 was very well received in most states and so the nucleus of Protective Behaviours (PB) in Australia was born. From these humble beginnings and using the PB concept of Networking, Protective Behaviours has since developed in different ways in each state.

The overwhelming emphasis has been on using the process as a programme with children in schools to prevent abuse.

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United Kingdom

Protective Behaviours came to the UK in 1990 through a connection between police forces in Australia and England. Di Margetts, whilst travelling to the UK, was asked to visit Milton Keynes Police and explain to them how the process worked. Having done this she was then asked to conduct a workshop before returning to Australia. Enthusiasm for the ideas was so great that Di remained in the UK and many people who attended the initial day in Milton Keynes are still actively involved with PBs today.

At first the process was used by Police-Schools Liaison Officers Chris Harman and Alan Dawson as an alternative to stranger danger and for citizenship lessons. After further visits and more training, the process started to generate interest from many other groups. As word spread about the value and uses of PBs, people in other areas in UK wanted training.

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There are now active PBs individuals and groups in places all over England, Scotland, Eire and Northern Ireland using the process in many different ways.

Although a global group, the Protective Behaviours Association was founded in the UK, its founders having been originally trained by PBUK.

Further evolution

It is also during the years since 1990 the contextual development of the process occurred. This came about as a result of Margetts working in many countries with a variety of professional groups and hearing the same issues being raised by many different people. These developments include understanding the origins and effects of Unwritten Rules thus putting PBs into a social context. Next came the recognition of how our feelings and thoughts interact with and influence our behaviour giving us an understanding of the bridge between the external rules and internal feelings of safety. In addition Margetts developed the model for understanding the importance of language in the context of the PB themes (Language of Safety) and our right to feel safe.

Through these developments Protective Behaviours is increasingly becoming integrated into many areas of work including; parent support, counselling, abuse prevention, crime prevention, PSHE work, sex and relationship education, empowerment programmes, trauma informed practice, peer support, restorative justice and restorative practices, drug education, working with children and young people and adults of many faiths, abilities and lifestyles.