Meggie Mapes spent months researching prison inmates in batter intervention programs, which focus on men with histories of partner violence.
Mapes, a communication researcher and associate professor at the University of Kansas, went into a prison to learn what’s preventing men from changing their behavior.
It comes down to how men are taught to communicate, Mapes concluded.
“What I really found was that we have, over time, through communication, over and over again, given men models that violence is a valid means of communication,” Mapes said. “But we haven't given them cultural models for being accountable, taking responsibility, really investigating those behaviors that they've learned, and then giving them some new tools to act a different way.”
At the upcoming TEDxKC conference on Friday, July 24, Mapes will discuss the relationship between communication and violence, disrupting and accountability for perpetuating harm, and how these lessons apply beyond the prison walls.
TEDxKC: The Future of Being Human After All, 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 24 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64108. Ticket required for the event.
- Meggie Mapes, associate professor and director, Department of Communication Studies University of Kansas
