About Alan Jenkins

Internationally renowned Australian psychologist, consultant, trainer and author Alan Jenkins has worked for more than 25 years in a various multi-disciplinary settings addressing violence and abusive behaviors. Rather than tire from this work, he has become increasingly intrigued with possibilities for the discovery of ethical and respectful ways of relating. The valuing of ethics, fairness and the importance of protest against injustice has led him to stray considerably from the path prescribed in his early training as a psychologist towards a political analysis of abuse.

As a popular and highly regarded trainer, Alan draws on insight from his years of consulting and in-the-trenches experience counseling offenders, victims and families. He has conducted hundreds of seminars and workshops for industry professionals across the globe; and his therapeutic models that have been adopted by private and government agencies in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the U.S.

Currently, Alan serves as Director of Nada, an independent service in the South Australian city of Adelaide that provides intervention in family abuse, violence and workplace harassment. He manages the Mary St. Program for young people who have sexually assaulted, along with their caregivers and members of their communities. In addition to countless published articles and reports, Alan is the author of two books - Invitations To Responsibility: The Therapeutic Engagement of Men Who Are Violent and Abusive and Becoming Ethical: A Parallel Political Journey With Men Who Have Abused.

Making It Fair: Ethical Intervention With Young People Who Have Engaged In Abusive Behavior

Alan's two-day workshop presents and invitational intervention model for youth who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviors.

The model is informed by a political analysis of power relations, ethical principles and narrative therapy concepts. Invitational practice is designed to assist young people to discover their own ethical preferences and motivation to strive for fair and respectful outcomes.

Workshop participants will engage with the following dilemmas:

• How can we privilege fairness in an unjust world?
• How can we challenge abusive behavior without reproducing abuse?
• How can we address young people¹s own experiences of victimization and oppression without sacrificing a priority on responsibility and accountability for their own abusive actions?
• How can we work with shame without shaming young people?

Through a combination of didactic presentation and case demonstration, participants will be introduced to practical intervention strategies for working with young people, their caregivers and community members towards ethical ways of relating which enhance self respect and respect for others.