Will Allen Jordan, bigamist and sex offender, on the loose in New Jersey

blueskies – I started writing this this am – right after you posted. finally have a chance to get back to it – so hear goes. And btw – no such thing as ‘just a rant’ when it comes to social disorder. 😉

I remember when professionals in the legal and medical systems, and friends and families in North America didn’t understand the power a battering spouse could have over their partners. Now, most professionals and family and friend have some idea that there is a profound effect, and that getting away is very difficult and often dangerous. Most people now know the term ’domestic violence’ and many have heard the term ‘battered wife syndrome’.

And although people may not want to believe that this is the experience of someone they know, or what it really means, people now have, at least, a term with which to contextualize it – which means that a big crack was made in the system of denial and secrets that had formerly existed.

How did this change in awareness come about? I suspect, first and foremost through the work of early wave feminists. Starting with consciousness raising: the naming and articulating of experiences, then the work done to form and sustain women’s shelter, and mount public education campaigns. The work of social workers and psychologists who became interested in what was ‘new’ in their fields and developed a literature around battery contributed significant understanding, which supported changes in legislation. The work of governments was important, at all three levels, as community groups and health professionals lobbied for funds for programs and studies. The changes in legislation gave police new powers (with varying outcomes) and created laws that could be used in test cases. All of this effected/ was effected by the changing role of women in NA society, and the next generation of feminists who have gone on to be those writing, legislating, counseling, etc. in the area of battery and domestic violence.

So, writing THIS out, I see that it starts with those most affected getting together to speak truth and name things.

Next, comes the carrying of that consciousness into the world. As we live and heal we come into contact with health professionals (from our children’s doctors to social workers), our neighbors, our families, and we speak there, at the same time we create coalitions to do this outreach in a more structured way. The emergence of a tentative social understanding of domestic violence was possible because of the large number of people mobilized over time. I am looking at a 40 year arc here. Although fewer people are in relationships with sociopaths and narcissists, we have something the first and second wave feminists’ didn’t have; we have the internet.

There is a lot to be learned by looking at social movements and how they have changed the world. I think this is an informed place to start. We can create plans targeting every group of people we want to reach, and all the ways we might be able to do that.

Off the top of my head, four prime groups to reach out to would be: women’s shelters and domestic violence programs, dating sites and ’internet fraud’ sites, and teens.

We want teens to know about sociopathy? We need to start tweeting about it.