VIA PEOPLE:
Chris Brown won’t go to jail for assaulting Rihanna. The question now is whether his plea-bargained penalty – community labor, probation, domestic violence classes – will reform his behavior and save his career.
PEOPLE readers overwhelmingly said justice wasn’t served Monday when Brown reached a deal with prosecutors in exchange for pleading guilty to felony assault. But experts take a more forgiving view, saying the R&B star is already off to a good start.
“In accepting a plea bargain, you’re accepting responsibility for your behavior,” says New York City clinical psychologist Jeffery Gardere. And by taking the court-mandated classes, Brown will be forced to face the issues that led him to become violent in the first place. [Brown has said that as a child, he witnessed his mother being abused.] “Part of those classes is talking about what happened as well as learning what your actions can do to victims and to yourself,” he says.
Anger Management
While it remains to be seen how the singer handles his anger, living in the public eye may serve as an extra deterrent. “He’s going to have a lot of people looking at him and hopefully that will keep him from using violence again,” says Dr. Lenore Walker, professor of psychology at NOVA Southeastern University and author of The Battered Woman Syndrome.
What may be harder for Brown – once known as a good boy – is rehabbing his image. Contrary to reports, he hasn’t started doing this just yet.
“There are no ‘new’ songs from Chris Brown currently being promoted by Chris or his record label,” according to a statement from his label. “There are several old demos circulating that are being falsely promoted as new material from Chris.”
But recently, he has been in the studio recording tracks for his next album, which many hope includes a redemption song. “A song with the proper lyrics and melody can heal wounds,” explains former record label executive Charlie Walk, president and CEO of CWE Media, a multimedia entertainment company. “If he apologizes through song, that may be enough to take him where he needs to go.”
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