NCJ Number
177882
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 5 Issue: 6 Dated: June 1999 Pages: 654-683
Date Published
1999
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This article describes the characteristics of the Cultural Context Model (CCM), the community development and treatment model underlying the work being done at the Institute for Family Services in Somerset, N.J., and how the CCM is being implemented with abusive Asian-Indian American men and their families.
Abstract
More traditional approaches to intervention with abusive men and their families either minimize cultural differences -- consistently deferring to dominant, white-centric theories and service delivery systems and to prescribed solutions that result from these theories -- or misinterpret cultural differences in ways that increase the level of danger for domestic-violence victims from marginalized groups. The CCM is a new approach that places social justice concerns that arise from differences of race, gender, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation at the heart of family therapy practice. The CCM is both a theoretical paradigm and an approach to practice and intervention. It is a community development approach that provides intervention for all family members. The CCM approaches intervention with batterers and their families from a perspective that acknowledges a multilayered experience of culture. More specifically, the treatment approach requires accountability from batters and supports the empowerment of victims and children at the some time, as it recognizes the impact of a number of social forces related to culture and cultural differences on communities, families, and individuals. These forces include the attitudes and behavior that stem from sexism, racism, and heterosexism, as well as experiences with immigration, colonization, and capitalism. Although the treatment approach is applicable cross-culturally, this article primarily focuses on examples of how cultural dynamics affect the treatment of Asian-Indian American families in which abuse is occurring. 3 figures and 22 references