The SHED Manual: For workers engaging in men’s behaviour change to shed abusive beliefs and violence (2013) was developed over almost 20 years of practice in rural Australia by Chris Laming. The SHED (Self Help Ending Domestics) Project engaged with men and challenged them to look at themselves, as though in a mirror. It was ‘time and space for men to face who they are and what they have become and a chance to change what is not good’.
The SHED Manual describes the process of engaging and assessing men and a possible curriculum for promoting behavioural and attitudinal change by men seeking to take responsibility. The underlying philosophy is one of hopeful anticipation, based on Personal Construct Theory. The work towards behaviour change with men is situated within an integrated family violence service system response that holds men accountable for their behaviour so that women and children might be safer.
The SHED Manual is part of a PhD project found at: https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/39422
Family Safety: A Toolkit for Men (2011), by Chris Laming and Michael Fontana, is a small book for men. It is based on parts of the SHED Manual and offers simple strategies, techniques and possibilities for men to change attitudes or behaviours that disable their families and themselves. It offers practical tools for men to use in changing abusive habits or beliefs into becoming the man they want to be, for their families and for themselves. The underlying philosophy is also one of hopeful anticipation, based on Personal Construct Theory and enables men to make responsible choices that are safe and constructive for everyone. Family Safety: A Toolkit for Men is framed around metaphors of vehicle maintenance and safety for all.