It’s an horrific statistic.

Wimmera police dealt with almost 900 cases of family violence in 2012-13.

The Grampians Community Health Men’s Behaviour Change Program meets in Horsham for two hours a week and works with a range of men, who are engaging or considering engaging in controlling or violent behaviour.

Program co-ordinator and facilitator Vicki Hobbs and facilitator David Henwood run the sessions to try to change the mindset and actions of a range of men who might engage in violence.

The question is, can the behaviour of men who commit family violence really be changed?

‘‘People say these men can’t be changed – they can,’’ Mrs Hobbs said.

Family violence is increasingly debated in the media.

The broad daylight murders of 11-year-old Luke Batty with a cricket bat at the hands of his father and the killing of mother of four Fiona Warzywoda are two cases that shocked the public.

Mr Henwood said while there were some cases the program would not stop, those who graduated to murder were a small portion of the overall number of incidents.

‘‘The reality is, in our society there are very few psychopaths and sociopaths and the majority of them are in jail,’’ he said.

‘‘The guys who we’re dealing with are regular guys. They’re people’s brothers, people’s sons. They’re just regular guys who have lost contact with what’s reasonable and what’s not and need a support to get back in there.’’

Mrs Hobbs said the program used highly publicised cases to promote discussion with group members about how people could have behaved differently.

Aside from those shocking cases of physical violence, men also commit sexual, psychological, financial and other types of violence.

Mrs Hobbs stressed the approach was aimed at being preventative and tried to get to men before they committed violence.

Many of the men who access the program do so at the behest of family violence orders, courts or the corrections system.

But Mrs Hobbs said many self-referred, in some cases before they committed a violent act.

In each week of the 12-week program, the group focuses on one issue to address an aspect of their behaviour.

Mrs Hobbs said the program provided a place for men to discuss relationship and other issues in their lives.

She said group members encouraged each other to work on anger and other emotions that caused them to lash out against their partners.

‘‘They feel it’s a safe place for them to talk and the other guys support them and they say ‘mate, don’t do it - you’re crazy, you’ve come this far let’s work it out’,’’ Mrs Hobbs said.

Mr Henwood agreed that support was key.

‘‘We don’t point the finger at them and call them wife-beaters and abusers, we just help them work out what’s going on inside themselves.’’

Mr Henwood said many of the issues that led to family violence were borne out of questions around what it meant to be a man.

‘‘Where do you learn to be a man? If you’re lucky you’ve got a good father, if you don’t you’re behind the eight ball,’’ he said.

‘‘The reality is that we shouldn’t have to rely on those influences, we should be teaching stuff like this at school.’’

He said partner contact was a huge part of the program.

‘‘We maintain contact with partners and ex-partners because we want to hear the full story,’’ Mr Henwood said.

Mr Henwood said there was not a 100 per cent success rate.

He said some men were unable to be helped or occasionally relapsed into violent behaviour.

‘‘We get guys who go through the group who we know at the end still haven’t got it,’’ he said.

‘‘There are going to be certain people who it never gets through to and I guess they’re the ones we need to be more wary of.’’

The pair also has one-on-one sessions with some men, especially those who might need to diffuse a rise in tensions at home or at work.

Mrs Hobbs said respect – including self-respect for the men – was an important aspect for the group.

‘‘We teach them to show respect for women, we focus on how to teach their sons and daughters.’’

Mrs Hobbs said the service was confidential and non-judgmental and was designed to equip men with strategies to have healthy interactions with their families and partners.

She said people could call Grampians Community Health in Horsham on 5362 1200 for more information.