Men who are arrested for battering are usually mandated to intervention programs. Black men are overrepresented in arrest for domestic violence in the majority of urban areas and are, therefore, also overrepresented in batterers' intervention programs in those areas. Most states have identified standards for these programs that utilize a profeminist curriculum (such as The Duluth Model), but do not specifically require that the programs include a cultural component. The current approach to batterers' intervention is often described as color-blind and one-size-fits-all. However, the research literature does not provide empirical support to reject the profeminist curriculum in favor of creating racially-homogeneous programs or culturally-focused curricula This qualitative study utilizes a feminist perspective and a phenomenological approach with a womanist emphasis to determine if the current profeminist curriculum represents the experience of violence in relationships between Black women and Black men. The premise of this study is that determining the answer to this question begins with a phenomenological analysis of the essence of violence in Black dyads from the perspective of battered Black women. This study presents the experiences of battering related by ten Black women The focus of the data reduction was to identify the behavioral antecedents and the tactics of violence discussed by the participants. Coding the behavioral antecedents resulted in the development of three themes: threat to the relationship (actual or perceived), threat to his physical or emotional well-being (actual or perceived), and threat to his perception of gender roles: Ten themes emerged from the acts of physical, psychological, or sexual violence that were identified in this data. These themes mirrored the tactics that comprise the Power and Control Wheel that is utilized in the Duluth curriculum. Therefore, the findings of this research suggest that the profeminist curriculum does reflect the experience of battering from the perspective of battered Black women and is, therefore, consistent with the womanist perspective of domestic violence. Subsequently, batterers' intervention programs that utilize this curriculum will most likely be appropriate for Black participants / acase@tulane.edu
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_25819 |
Date | January 2007 |
Contributors | Blanchard, Dalmer Atkins (Author), Lewis, Marva L (Thesis advisor) |
Publisher | Tulane University |
Source Sets | Tulane University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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