Paternity

Research into the role of fatherhood began in the 1970s due to changes in the labor market and social norms for women (Bat-Or & Greinmann-Bauch, 2017; Carmel, 2019). According to Alser (2011), little importance was directed to paternity in professional literature. In the book Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (2009), Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson write about their experience in treating families and finding angry, frustrated, and silent boys, who were brought up to suppress compassion, sensitivity, and warmth. The family psychotherapist Noam Israeli (2020) strengthens this claim by tying together the dominant image of masculinity that requires strength, to acts of cruelty—expressed by verbal and emotional brutality—that could lead to aggression and abuse. As opposed to these aggressive contents, positive aspects of paternity are known to promote a healthy separation process, build gender identity, and form an essential model in education values (Alser, 2011).

Erikson (1950) mentions faith as a trait that develops in the first stage of life, significant for the differentiation process. According to Weir (1995) and Bowlby (2005), difficulties in developing self-confidence during the process of differentiation could create a false sense of omnipotence and the need to preserve control (Dalley et al, 2013). In describing the narcissistic disorder, Cohen (2016) refers to desire, abandonment anxiety, and a need for control and security. These states of mind express longing for unrealistic situations, rigidity, and irrational thinking (Dotan, 2016; Reel, 1999).

Violent Paternity

The OECD conference in 2020 for the eradication of domestic violence, stated that “domestic violence is not an event that exists in certain households, but it is anchored within a society that allows it to occur” and claimed that domestic violence is occasionally associated with non-verbal, cultural and gender-oriented messages (OECD, 2020, p. 21). The conference addressed the fact that experiences and exposure to violence during childhood and the use of violence during adolescence are closely related.

In recent years, the focus on treating violent men has increased. Men who have completed therapeutic processes were less likely to behave violently than men who have dropped out of therapy. This is due to the established connection to parts of the self, such as vulnerability, sadness, pain, helplessness, and compassion (Ben Porat et al., 2018).

Contrasts

According to Gurvitz and Arab (2012), dialectics is a methodology that originates from Greek philosophy in which the tension between contradictory claims leads to truth and completeness. Rudolf Arnheim (2004) claims that movement between contrasts enables progress and develops a position that accepts ambivalence as part of existence. The psychodynamic point of view proposes that conflicting emotions and drives aspire to express themselves, and a balance between them constitutes a central element in proper development (Gil, 2018; Lance, 2011; Yalom, 2002). From an artistic perspective, Carmel (2019) and Lev (2020) suggest that creativity is the ability to unite contrasts in favor of new ideas.

Contrasting Qualities in Clay

Clay is a natural material made from soil, commonly used in art therapy (Orbach, 2017). Clay is flexible, and its molding promotes unity with nature, and with polarized emotions such as playfulness, anxiety, serenity, aggression, joy, and such (Nan et al., 2021; Richards, 2011). Clay, as a primary material, carries qualities that encourage regression (Govoni et al., 2022). Sholt and Gavron (2006) assert that the therapeutic aspects of clay lie in merging physical and mental processes. This constitutes a window to unconscious content, especially for people who struggle to express themselves verbally, bypassing defense mechanisms.

Clay in Art-based Research

Clay has several unique characteristics that make it an effective research tool in art-based research. Its tactile and malleable nature allows individuals to physically engage with the medium, shaping and molding it to their liking, which can facilitate a deeper connection to the material and a greater expression of emotions and experiences (Bat-Or, 2010; Duckrow Fonda, 2017). Recent research studies have shown that clay can be used to explore a wide range of topics, from trauma and identity to social justice issues (Agyei et al., 2021). For example, a study by Skop et al. (2022) demonstrated how using clay in art-based therapy sessions with survivors of domestic violence helped facilitate the expression of emotions and experiences that were difficult to verbalize. Beauregard et al. (2020) highlighted the earthy nature of clay that in a group setting can foster a sense of community and belonging, providing individuals with an opportunity to connect with others and share their experiences. These studies highlight the potential for generating new insights with clay in research.

The existing research on the use of clay in art-based research with violent men is limited, and there is a need to explore the potential of this medium further. This study aims to narrow this gap in the literature by using clay to explore parental perceptions of violent men and their roles as parents.

Participants and Setting

Four fathers between the ages of 29 and 46 years, recognized as violent men, who vary in their sociocultural backgrounds participated in the research. These men voluntarily took part in weekly meetings in a therapeutic group at a Prevention of Domestic Violence Center in Israel, for approximately eight months and, hence, knew one another. Despite signing a consent form, one man did not complete the research process. The group facilitator—an experienced art therapist—participated as a witness during the experiential meeting, in the hope to promote safety and alleviate the participating-fathers’ anxiety. The three students participated as active researchers. For the purpose of anonymity, the following pseudo-names were used for the fathers: Yaron, Roy, and Assaf. The three researchers will be presented by their real names: Israella, Daniella, and Renana.

Recruiting the fathers was challenging. The researchers first contacted social services officials in the Israeli Ministry of Welfare, which is responsible for the prevention of domestic violence. However, the formal approval process was complex and did not meet the course time limit. Then, they published a call for participation on social media, yet these attempts were futile. Advised by their professor, they contacted her colleague—an experienced art therapist working with groups of violent men—and requested her assistance in granting permission and IRB approval for the research project. The approval was granted for a group facilitated by her, provided she is present as a witness during the experiential meeting with the men.

The study took place in February 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. It included a single 90-minute experiential meeting with the fathers, at the Domestic Violence Prevention Center in southern Israel. The meeting was held in the same room where the group meets weekly, leaving the doors open at the request of the fathers. To comply with the health restrictions of the pandemic, all participants wore facial masks and maintained social distancing in order to prevent infection.

Research Process

Four inquiry modes were used to explore paternal representations of violent men: an experiential meeting with all participants that included filling out a questionnaire, artmaking with clay, phenomenological observation, and a discussion relating to the creative processes and products. Three fathers arrived at the scheduled time and began filling out the questionnaires. When the last man arrived, he sat down beside the group facilitator he knew, reviewed the forms while listening to the warm-up directive, watched the other fathers working with clay and then left. All attempts to persuade him to stay with his fellow male-participants failed. Once questionnaires were filled-out, the three fathers chose a personal workspace that included a 25 × 25-cm plywood board with a 15 × 15-cm lump of clay on it, five wooden working tools, a water bowl, and paper towels. A video camera was placed next to each participant, directed at his hands to preserve anonymity.

Artmaking with Clay

As a warm-up, the researchers explained the nature of clay and its qualities. They invited the fathers to touch the clay and pay attention to their feelings that arise. Then, the fathers were asked to create an image representing their relationship with their children. Each researcher accompanied one father throughout the meeting, documenting the creative process in an observation log. The researchers originally planned to devote 40 minutes to artmaking and 30 minutes to a group reflective discussion. Subsequently, the creative processes of the fathers were not in-synch, which required their flexibility. Thus, discussions were conducted with each father individually.

Creative Observation and Discussions

Immediately after artmaking, a discussion was held with each father that began with an invitation to observe the clay artwork from all sides and reply to the question—“What do you see?” (Betensky, 1977). Then, the fathers were asked to describe their creative process in detail. The researchers inquired whether they experienced frustration or difficulty during sculpting, striving to broaden an understanding of the parenthood to which the fathers were exposed as children. Therefore, they asked: “If you could mold the clay to symbolize your relationship with your father, can you describe what it would look like?”

Creative Responding by the Researchers

In art-based research, the artistic expressions of the researchers are used as investigation tools, offering additional ways of understanding, and communicating human experiences (Kossak, 2021; McNiff, 2018). Therefore, after the fathers left, the researchers remained in the room and responded artistically to the previous inquiry modes, by using similar lumps of clay (15 × 15 cm). They documented their creative processes and products with photos and observation logs.

Systematic Analysis of the Research Information

The research tools included questionnaires for gathering personal information from the fathers, researchers’ observation logs, footage of participants’ hand movements, the participants’ created artworks, photographs, audio recordings of the experiential meeting, and transcribed discussions.

The systematic analysis included listening to the audio recordings, transcribing them, watching, and analyzing the footage, with and without sound. The researchers referred to the work structure, hand movements, and artmaking techniques. They observed and examined the artworks according to the phenomenological-aesthetic approach that traces the nature of the phenomena (Betensky, 1977). They also drew on their observation logs to recall feelings and interpretations stemming from the experiential meeting and the process as a whole (Lev, 2022). Then, they discussed the body of information, distilling the main themes that could answer the research question. A significant objective of the research course is to instill a thorough, systematic, analysis process. This was encouraged by inviting the students to present their research methods and findings to their classmates, engaging the class in brainstorming, asking questions, and providing relevant feedback. This process helped the researchers solidify their findings and deliberate with their course professor who referred them to relevant literature from psychology, sociology, philosophy, and art therapy.

Coexisting Contrasts

Upon hearing about the research proposal and reading about the research process outline, some of the fathers expressed their concerns for religious reasons. Shortly into the meeting, they seemed relaxed, providing their full cooperation. The researchers also felt intense, conflicting emotions. They were reluctant about meeting violent men; they were intimidated to approach them and to be close with them, however, once the fathers engaged with artmaking their fear made way for feeling compassion, excitement, and empathy towards them.

Contrasting Touch

While examining the footage of participants’ artmaking with clay, the researchers noted contrasts in manners of touch. These included gentle and soft touching versus tough and aggressive ones. For example, participant Assaf caressed his artwork Coming to the World at length during the creative process while focusing on its intentional injury (Figure 1). He said: “A baby is born wounded…unclean.” Participant Yaron molded the clay gently, and then submerged into pressing and crushing the clay with both hands—movements that reflected violence and great strength. All the fathers engraved the clay in their creative processes, which made the researchers feel uncomfortable while witnessing them during the meeting and when watching the footage.

Figure 1 - Assaf’s artwork Coming to the World, clay on plywood (6 × 14 × 33 cm).

Contradictions in Demeanor

The fathers agreed to become exposed through the creative process and verbal discussions. They expressed in detail aspects of their fatherhood they were not proud of. However, they chose to remain silent when asked about their own childhood. Assaf, who began creating before the video cameras were turned on, tried to hide parts of his process afterwards, and Roy chose to conceal his artwork.

Contradictions were also expressed verbally by the fathers. For example, Assaf compared the qualities of the clay to his own, unrealistically: “It’s a strong material…both strong and flexible…it varies.” Then he said, “I am a very emotional person, [I know] I don’t seem so but…” Yaron, spoke highly of his children’s future, and related to the tree he created, “What future do I wish for my children? Strength and growth,” when in fact, Yaron has four indictments for severe violence.

Contrasting Perceptions

The researchers evidenced contrasts between the fathers’ projected perceptions of their artworks. According to Yaron, his artwork The Levinsky Tree was strong and stable as a metaphor for his children, however, the artwork tilted sideways affecting its steadiness (Figure 2). Roy created his human figures fragile and weak while making other objects robust (Figure 3). Assaf bonded the organs of his artwork tightly using water, yet the figure’s head exceeded the limits of the platform placing it at risk (Figure 1).

Figure 2 - Yaron’s artwork The Levinsky Tree, clay on plywood (10 × 12 × 20 cm).

Figure 3 - Roy’s artwork Quality Time, clay on plywood (5 × 10 × 17 cm).

The table in the responding artwork of researcher Israella, Table and Child (Figure 4), serves as a playful hiding place for children but also offers a sheltering space for the threatened child. Researcher Renana, referred to her artwork hand (Figure 5), as open, giving, reaching out, and touching, however, its texture is rough and coarse. Researcher Daniella’s artwork needle and thread (Figure 6), represents the potential for both stabbing and repair.

Figure 4 - Researcher Israella, response-art. Table and Child, clay on plywood (10 × 9 × 9 cm).

Figure 5 - Researcher Renana, response art. Hand, clay on plywood (6 × 10 × 15 cm).

Figure 6 - Researcher Daniella, response-art. Needle and Thread, clay on plywood (2 × 35 × 37 cm).

The researchers acknowledged coexisting contrasts in their response artworks; their desire for reparation and connection vis-à-vis pain and roughness. They understood that their ability to hold contrasts points to development and growth. The fathers have taken part in sessions of group art therapy prior to the research that did not involve working with clay. It is possible that the qualities of clay facilitated their creative expression, enabling contrasts to coexist. In this manner, the advantage of art therapy grows in providing the space for violent men to experience regression and become contend with ambivalent attachment experiences and anxieties.

False Perfection

Pretense perfection was seen in participants’ created imagery as “fantastic Kodak moments.” Assaf described the baby in his artwork Coming into the World as the perfect baby at birth. Yaron’s Levinsky Tree, which symbolizes his family, presented an opulent tree decorated with an engraving and a heart. Roy’s artwork Quality Time showed a father and his children under the covers in bed watching television. He described his artwork as capturing the happiest moment in his life. Israella’s response art Table and Child presents a table with massive legs and a rather thin platform for its top (Figure 4). She wrote in her observation log: “It seems as if these heavy legs desire to compensate for the fear of the child seated underneath [the table].”

While watching and analyzing participants’ creative processes, the researchers noted much time and effort that were invested in stabilizing and perfecting the artworks. Assaf’s footage revealed his tightening, squeezing and caressing of the baby´s figure as well as using a large amount of clay to make it stronger. During the discussions, especially when asked about their parental frustrations, the fathers highlighted deficiencies, leading to compensations.

Enmeshment in False Perfection

Enmeshment was noted in participants’ artworks and creative processes. Assaf, for example, created a lumpy baby figure with arms as a part of its body (Figure 1). During the discussion with Assaf, he first referred to the figure as his firstborn daughter, then he said the image could symbolize him “I may have put something of myself into the whole thing,” “I put the baby within me into this baby,” and added, “we are all babies.” The baby he created became “all babies.” At the end of the meeting, Assaf struggled to separate from his creation.

In Roy’s artwork, there is no space between the two children and their father in bed (Figure 3). Roy was not satisfied with the physical proximity of the kids to the father in bed, and added: “I am attached to them, and they are attached to me.” Yaron’s artwork was a chunk of clay as a tree trunk with no branches (Figure 2). He explained that his on-block artwork represents a family unit, although he was asked to create a relationship. In the discussion, he described the image as the family tree and then engraved the tree with a nickname to imprint it.

A lack of separation was seen in the researchers’ response artworks. Daniella made changes in her first response art Needle and Thread. She folded the needle, rolled the thread into a ball and placed it in the eye of the needle unifying them. Observing the artwork in its final stage she said it looked like a symbiotic primary relationship, and renamed it Ball and Needle (Figure 7).

Figure 7 - Researcher Daniella, response-art. Ball and Needle, clay on plywood (13 × 9 × 18 cm).

Participants seemed to mistake enmeshment for closeness, when in fact, it led to indistinction. While listening to the audio recordings of the experiential meeting and the discussions, the researchers struggled with hearing the conversations clearly. During the meeting, the fathers requested to leave the doors open. The volume of the traffic coming from the street was equally loud as the participants’ voices, which made it very difficult to distinguish between them.