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RICHMOND -
Rhianna's badly bruised face. A far cry from how we usually see the pop star. Her then boyfriend, singer and Virginia native, Chris Brown is charged with the beating.
He's sentenced to probation and manual labor - time he's serving here in Richmond.
Chris Brown is ordered to undergo a domestic violence program. It's common in most of these cases. Sometimes it's the abusers last resort - the difference between jail time and freedom.
"I do think that's the most effective way in dealing with this is to put these abusers in court mandated programs where they can learn alternative ways in dealing with stresses."
Frank Manners, a licensed clinical social worker just may be an abuser's last chance. They enter his 24-week program at his Henrico office. What he sees and hears often determines what kind of punishment a judge hands down.
"I look for accountability where these guys are owning up to their abusive behavior," says Manners.
These domestic violence cases are happening behind closed doors and keep area police busy around the clock. In 2008, Richmond police respond to more than 12,000 calls for domestic disputes. Chesterfield more than 8,000 and Henrico a little over 6,000.
Manners says these abusers are mostly men, but women do it too. They're professional and unskilled workers. All of them have anger issues and abuse the people they love - and it's not just physical abuse.
"Intimidation, hollering, cursing, name calling, where the guy will control the partners whereabouts - who she talks to on the phone, where she goes, how much money she spends."
"Not feeling loved, not feeling valued because they didn't get it through childhood. They do demand that their partners give it to them." Manners says close to 90% of these abusers grow up in violent homes. "They really don't know what real love is so we have to teach it to them."
It begins at group sessions. Manners allows our cameras inside. Eight abusers are in the room. They're different ages and races. They're wearing t-shirts, dress shirts, football jerseys and hospital scrubs. Around the room they begin to peel off the layers of anger.
"To me I feel like I'm being more dominant in the situation because I'm not going to talk to you," says one of the men in the room. "If she wasn't with me fully on something I really believed in I would immediately cut her off."
The brutally blunt conversation turns one man - who verbally abused his pregnant girlfriend who didn't want to marry him. The men in the group step up and confront his control issues, "Why do you have this need to get married right now?"
"I think you're ashamed," chimes in another man.
One man talking knows about shame. His abuse forced his wife and children to walk out.
"It is rage. It is I must be right," he says, "Because if I'm wrong. I'm worthless."
Rage that's been boiling since childhood and now he's feeling the impact of his abuse. He begins to cry before he speaks again and says, "When you breach your family's trust, by being abusive it just can't be gotten back very easily."
Chris Brown is ordered to undergo a domestic violence program. It's common in most of these cases. Sometimes it's the abusers last resort - the difference between jail time and freedom.
"I do think that's the most effective way in dealing with this is to put these abusers in court mandated programs where they can learn alternative ways in dealing with stresses."
Frank Manners, a licensed clinical social worker just may be an abuser's last chance. They enter his 24-week program at his Henrico office. What he sees and hears often determines what kind of punishment a judge hands down.
"I look for accountability where these guys are owning up to their abusive behavior," says Manners.
These domestic violence cases are happening behind closed doors and keep area police busy around the clock. In 2008, Richmond police respond to more than 12,000 calls for domestic disputes. Chesterfield more than 8,000 and Henrico a little over 6,000.
Manners says these abusers are mostly men, but women do it too. They're professional and unskilled workers. All of them have anger issues and abuse the people they love - and it's not just physical abuse.
"Intimidation, hollering, cursing, name calling, where the guy will control the partners whereabouts - who she talks to on the phone, where she goes, how much money she spends."
"Not feeling loved, not feeling valued because they didn't get it through childhood. They do demand that their partners give it to them." Manners says close to 90% of these abusers grow up in violent homes. "They really don't know what real love is so we have to teach it to them."
It begins at group sessions. Manners allows our cameras inside. Eight abusers are in the room. They're different ages and races. They're wearing t-shirts, dress shirts, football jerseys and hospital scrubs. Around the room they begin to peel off the layers of anger.
"To me I feel like I'm being more dominant in the situation because I'm not going to talk to you," says one of the men in the room. "If she wasn't with me fully on something I really believed in I would immediately cut her off."
The brutally blunt conversation turns one man - who verbally abused his pregnant girlfriend who didn't want to marry him. The men in the group step up and confront his control issues, "Why do you have this need to get married right now?"
"I think you're ashamed," chimes in another man.
One man talking knows about shame. His abuse forced his wife and children to walk out.
"It is rage. It is I must be right," he says, "Because if I'm wrong. I'm worthless."
Rage that's been boiling since childhood and now he's feeling the impact of his abuse. He begins to cry before he speaks again and says, "When you breach your family's trust, by being abusive it just can't be gotten back very easily."
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