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Copyright 2002 Wilderness Peacemaking Physical Attack Verbal loss of control may, if not defused, deteriorate into a physical attack – attempts by the stressed-out person to grab, hit, kick, choke, or bite the peacemaker. When verbal aggression will switch to physical attack is hard to predict, for both individual and cultural reasons. Cultural Factors Some persons and cultures – call them expressive – value intense and colorful verbal behavior; in such cases, verbal aggression may reach very high levels of intensity and volume before becoming a physical attack. On the other hand, some persons and cultures – call them restrained – value verbal restraint and self-control; in such cases, low-level verbal aggression may become a physical attack apparently without warning. If you are from a restrained culture, you may mistakenly believe that a person from an expressive culture is on the brink of violence when the person is simply using colorful and intense language; and you may have developed the belief that persons from that culture are aggressive and uncontrolled. If you are from an expressive culture, you may mistakenly believe that a person from a restrained culture is still far from becoming violent when the person is simply exercising great self-restraint; and you may have developed the belief that persons from that culture are disingenuous, untrustworthy, and explosive. Getting Out of the Way An out-of-control human in attack mode can be truly frightening, and is a serious challenge to any commitment to peacemaking. The goal for the peacemaker is to ensure the safety of everyone involved, using the least restrictive means available. Remember, your goal is absolutely not to dominate the other person, or demonstrate your own physical skillfulness, or even preserve your dignity; it is to provide the person the opportunity to regain control without having hurt himself or herself or anyone else. In many ways the simplest and most effective technique is for the peacemaker just to get out of the way, if you can, until the person cools off. This may require an initial block and then a step or two backwards; but, if you have kept an appropriate distance from the attacker, you can often just take a step or two back, and sometimes the violence directed at you ends right there. A stressed-out person who lashes out physically will not be subtle: a strike will often be preceded by a threatening gesture, by a step toward you, or by a glance down at the target on your body, giving you time to step back, turn to one side, or leave the area altogether. Keep alert for your own escape route. Fortunately, the wilderness – as opposed, say, to a classroom or mental health facility – provides lots of space within which to get out of the way. If someone has lost control, people can often move well beyond effective attack radius. Bystanders and peacemakers should try to back away; they should not turn their backs, since an out-of-control person may interpret turning the back as a lack of respect and disregard for the intensity of his or her emotions. The out-of-control person should be given as much space as he or she wants; as with verbal aggression, the more energy the out-of-control person expends running around and yelling, the sooner the person will run out of energy and regain some measure of self-control. When an attacker grabs your arm, tries to choke you, or pulls your hair, the goal, again, is to get out of the way, in this case by releasing the grip and stepping back or to one side. Techniques for releasing grips can be learned from a judo or aikido instructor – indeed, many of them from a water safety or lifesaving instructor; they take some practice, but can be surprisingly effective. Restraint But there are occasions when an out-of-control person must be restrained – when the person is intent on self-harm, for example, or has managed to grab another person. The peacemaking response to physical attack – the physical restraint of violent or assaultive people – focuses on using the least restrictive form of control for the level of aggression shown; the goal is to keep the both the attacker, peacemakers, and bystanders safe until the attacker is able to calm down and reach the stage of collapse and reintegration. There are ways of physically restraining a person that protect the safety both of the peacemaker and of the attacker. These techniques may vary according to the size of the attacker – a child is easier to control than a linebacker – and according to level of complexity. It goes without saying that these techniques are mastered by practice rather than by description, and the discussion in this paper will necessarily be relatively brief. Two points may be worth making. First, any technique used to restrain an out-of-control person should not be pain compliance techniques, such as the martial arts techniques taught, for example, in judo or aikido. Achieving control through the use of pain is inconsistent with the peacemaking philosophy, disrespects the autonomy of the person in crisis, hierarchizes the relationship between peacemaker and attacker, and makes it more difficult for the person to be reintegrated once the crisis has passed. Second, knowledge of these appropriate restraints can give the peacemaker a sense of confidence that difficult situations can be handled, averts panic in the face of physical attack, and allows the peacemaker to maintain self-control and rational detachment. There are a wide variety of techniques for the restraint of an adult. They almost always require at least two people, practice, and a lot of teamwork. In mental health facilities, for example, the usual size of a crisis intervention team is five people – even more if a patient is unusually large or strong. Very few wilderness guides or counselors have studied these techniques, and very few wilderness teams have practiced them. The team leader must decide whether it is worth the time to find an organization that teaches these techniques, then in turn teach the techniques to fellow leaders, spend some time practicing them, and establish a set of signals to indicate when help is needed to handle an assaultive person. The team leader is the only person who should speak to the violent person. The team leader should explain, calmly and matter-of-factly, what the team is about to do and why it is necessary to do it. At all times, the team leader and team members should demonstrate calm, respect, and concern for the violent person, and restraint should be performed as calmly and expeditiously as possible (Distasio, 1994). Using safe, noninjurious restraint where necessary is a way of caring for the welfare of the assaultive person. Remember that losing control of your behavior can be an unpleasant and frightening experience. The physical acting out is not premeditated violence directed against you, but an explosion of pent-up energy and stress. | ||
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