The perpetrators of violence often provoke disgust in us and few people have the desire to think about what lies behind their behaviour. But what if it's not an adult, but a teenage boy with a difficult life who doesn't know what to do with himself? And what if it's not cold calculation that's behind his violence, but confusion, pain and uncontrolled emotions?

These are the questions that the League of Open Men (LOM) addressed at the Try to Understand Me conference, which took place at the end of March 2025 in Prague's Node5. They talked about why therapeutic work with the perpetrators of violence is the key to prevention and how it can actually help stop violence. The debate also focused on what often leads young people to violence. Many of them grew up in an environment where violence was common - and where they had to learn to use it as a means of survival. Hitting a table, a wall or someone else then became the easiest way to show emotion or advocate for oneself.

Therapeutic manual and the first programme of its kind in the Czech Republic

One of the main points of the conference was the presentation of the new therapeutic manual Try to Understand Me, which gave the conference its name. It deals specifically with working with adolescents who are struggling with violent behaviour. This is an important milestone for LOM - the manual will become the basis for the first specialized therapeutic program for young perpetrators of violence in the Czech Republic, which it is currently working on.

LOM notes, however, that "this programme could not have been created without people who are not indifferent to violence. Thanks to the generous donors who contributed to our fundraiser, we have the chance to really launch the program this year. Thank you to everyone who is helping us to do this".

Inspiration from Scandinavia and the Czech Republic

Experts from the Czech Republic and abroad spoke at the conference. Among others, clinical psychologists Barbora Jakobsen and Hanne Eriksen from the Norwegian organisation Alternativ til vold, which has been focusing on working with violent behaviour in adolescents for many years. Their experience was a great inspiration for us.

LOM has been working with perpetrators of violence for a long time - especially through the Anger Management programme for adult men. Increasingly, however, we are seeing that we need to start earlier. To help boys who grew up in violence and never had a chance to know anything else.

"We want to be there for them. Not to excuse their behaviour, but because we believe that with early and sensitive help, violence can end before it really starts to destroy lives - theirs and those around them," LOM says on its website.

 

Both the conference and the handbook were implemented as part of the project Youth violence - working with aggression and violence in adolescents, which was funded by the Fund for Bilateral Relations under the EEA and Norway Grants in the Human Rights, Roma Inclusion and Domestic and Gender-Based Violence programme.

 

Text: Klára Pivovarová, from LOM website (edited by EEA and Norway Grants)

Photo of the project