FAIRNESS AND CULTURAL CONCERNS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES

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FAIRNESS AND CULTURAL CONCERNS IN DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE CASES

• Sujata Warrier PhD
• email sujata-warrier_at_att.net
• Phone [phone]

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Learning Objectives

• At the end of this segment, you will be better
  able to
• Define the terms culture and cultural competence
  and enhance respect for the dynamics of
  difference.
• Identify ways in which culture is relevant in the
  courtroom and cases.
• Recognize cultural misinformation and avoid
  assumptions about a person, family or the facts
  of a situation based on misinformation.
• Assess blinding preferences that are brought to
  any encounter that might influence demeanor or
  the interpretation of facts and making of
  decisions in domestic violence cases.
• Apply knowledge about culture in cases involving
  domestic violence.

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Cultural Exercise

• What is your cultural identity?
• How does your cultural identity affect, limit or
  enhance your work?

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Culture.

• Culture shapes an individuals experience of
  domestic violence.
• Culture shapes the batterers response to
  intervention and acceptance of responsibility.
• Culture shapes access to other services that
  might be crucial for adult victim, the children
  and the perpetrator.
• The culture of the courtroom, the victims and the
  perpetrator will impact outcome.

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What Is Culture?

• Historically and anthropologically thought to be
  a stable pattern of beliefs, values, thoughts,
  norms etc.. that are transmitted from generation
  to generation for successfully adapting to other
  group members and their environment.
• The problem is that this is an outdated
  definition.

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Definition Of Culture

• A critical definition of culture refers to shared
  experiences or commonalities that have developed
  and continue to evolve in relation to changing
  social and political contexts, based on

• race
• ethnicity
• national origin
• sexuality
• gender
• religion
• age
• class
• language

• disability status
• immigration status
• education
• geographic location (space)
• rural, urban,
• time, or
• other axes of identification
• within the historical context of oppression

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Cultural Context

• In all cultures, contexts of privilege and access
  are created by certain norms against which all
  other sub groups are compared.
• Privileges and access arise from having one or
  more of the above attributes of identity.
  Privilege includes not having to recognize own
  culture as norm, access to resources, connections
  and status.

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Cultural Context

• Privileges for one group can create the dynamics
  of domination.
• Domination begins with half-truths,
  misinformation, lies about persons based on
  differences. Misinformation becomes ingrained in
  society and others are thought to be deficient
  and eventually the target group internalizes the
  misinformation.

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Working Assumptions

• IN GENERAL
• Women, men and children have the right to live
  free from violence and the judiciary can take
  preventive action against domestic violence.
• Victims have the right to safety and
  self-determination, which might include staying
  with the perpetrator, family and community or
  leaving the relationship.
• The batterer is responsible for the violence.
• Domestic violence cuts across race, ethnicity,
  class, sexual identity, religious affiliation
  etc.

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Working Assumptions

• CULTURALLY COMPETENT ASSUMPTIONS
• Cultures are contradictory.
• widespread acceptance of domestic violence
• traditions of resistance.
• values that are nurturing and oppressive.
• Each victim a unique individual with their own
  responses.
• Each individual comes into the courtroom
  encounter with cultural experiences and
  perspectives that might differ from those present
  in the courtroom.

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TASK

• During the next few minutes, fill in each box
  presented with stereotypes about domestic
  violence that exist out there in the world
• May be positive or negative
• Awareness of a stereotype DOES NOT mean that you
  believe it

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Latino

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Poor

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Immigrants

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Gays and Lesbians

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Caucasian/White

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Asian Americans

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Research indicates that stereotyping is part of
the normal psychological process of
categorization that under pertinent conditions,
can lead to inaccurate generalizations about
individuals...
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Categorization

• The process by which we classify items, objects,
  or concepts, placing them together in groupings
  on the basis of their similarities with each
  other.

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Stereotypes

• A set of attributes ascribed to a group and
  imputed to its individual members simply because
  they belong to that group.

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Stereotypes

• Descriptive
• tell how most people in the group supposedly
  behave, what they allegedly prefer, and where
  their competence supposedly lies.

• Prescriptive
• tell how certain groups should think, feel, and
  behave.

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Stereotype matching advantage

• indicates that information that fits ones
  stereotypes is automatically processed it is
  easy to take in, making stereotypes seem to fit
  automatically.

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SUMMARY

• The brain, through such processes as
  categorization and stereotype-matching advantage,
  processes information through various short-cuts
  that tend to reinforce our expectations,
  especially under stressful circumstances.

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SUMMARY (cont...)

• The elimination of stereotypes requires more than
  good will. It requires awareness of stereotypes,
  motivation to avoid reliance upon them, and an
  intentional thought process.

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Practical Application of Cultural Competence

• Culture is operating
• Internally
• blinding preferences
• Externally
• heard information or observed demeanor that would
  suggest presence of cultural difference
• party directly raised culture as an issue

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Practical Application of Cultural Competence

• In All Cases
• Increase awareness of ones blinding
  preferences. For example,
• Challenge your assumptions.
• Use inclusive language.
• Do not assume English Proficiency or traditional
  family.
• Do not assume people have resources.

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Practical Application of Cultural Competence

• In A Particular Case
• Analyze the facts and circumstances.
• What do you know from general knowledge about the
  particular culture?
• What are the stereotypes that are masked as
  general information?
• Have you used specific questions to learn about
  the victims cultural experiences?
• How do you evaluate the victims specific
  experiences in light of the generalized
  information?

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Practical Application of Cultural Competence

• Know the services in the community
• Work with a cross section of the community.
• Give culturally appropriate referrals.
• Account for barriers and access to services

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Practical Application of Cultural Competence

• Explain the courts values around domestic
  violence to both parties.
• Remember, it takes time for people to accept new
  systems and ideas.
• Repetition and patience are the key.

• Adapt culture of the court to meet needs of the
  diverse victims. Consider
• Is it safe for the victim to be in courtroom?
• Are the interpreters being used appropriate for
  this case?

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Criminal Case Adjudication Phase

• Culture is not an excuse for criminal behavior.
  Substantively for example,
• party may not successfully argue that culture or
  country or community of origin sanctions violence
  against an intimate partner.
• all cultures have forces that both condemn and
  condone DV, through laws, social service
  structures, and community-based programs.

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Criminal Adjudication Phase (cont.)

• Cultural identity CAN impact the due process
  protections at the adjudication phase e.g.
• partys access to justice (and due process) may
  demand interpretation services if not English
  proficient.
• Partys immigration status may necessitate
  advising of immigration implications as part of
  collateral consequences of plea.

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Criminal Disposition Phase(and in civil cases)

• Pivotal question re cultural difference
• How does the cultural difference impact remedies
  to
• Assist the victim or avoid unnecessary harm to
  the victim?
• Facilitate the imposition of meaningful
  interventions for perpetrators that increase the
  potential for compliance?

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Culture.

• Culture cannot and should not be used as an
  excuse for bad or unacceptable behavior.
• Remember that explanation ? justification.
• Understanding the cultural context can help shape
  appropriate access and responses that bring about
  justice.