Abstract
Domestic Violence and the Black Community: Unpacking the Significance of our Diversity

Many people have been challenged by how best to reconcile the distinct issues of ethnicity, culture, and social context among Black people. Within the United States, our community is diverse, comprising “historical” African Americans with a lineage of forefathers, kidnapped from Africa and those born in this country; people with diverse economic status and education; various members that are more recent African immigrants and refugees; and many persons of Caribbean and Afro-Latino ancestry, as well as other members of the Diaspora. There are those who encourage us to consider these distinctions when we consider how we expand or narrow our tent of community. Yet, expanding this tent is not always easy when we consider identity, cultural history, country of origin, socioeconomic status, acculturation and education. It is an additional challenge when one considers effective service delivery associated with issues such as domestic violence. Does it matter that these distinction matter within the helping process?

There are many who feel that a one-size-fits-all approach is not useful, by itself, in responding to people’s diverse ethnic identities or their social and cultural realities. Depending on a woman’s ethnicity, culture, and/or social context, she may be affected differently by intimate partner abuse. Likewise, she may also define safety differently and for some their immigration status may be a concern. Do we really know her story? Who is the most effective helper? What community does she return to after being helped? In addition, organized support systems within the United States, such as criminal justice systems and social service agencies, have affected various groups differently in understanding the problem of domestic violence in cultural context and responding to it appropriately. Men from various cultural groups who batter may share a common characteristic of being abusive toward women; however, they may use different methods and rationalizations – rooted in their ethnic and cultural identities – to explain the manifestation of their violent behaviors.

IDVAAC will explore these issues through its conference, Domestic Violence and the Black Community: Unpacking the Significance of our Diversity, to be convened August 13-14, 2012, in Norfolk, Virginia. Through a series of panel discussions, workshops, and presentations, IDVAAC will explore the diversity that exists within the Black community in terms of class, culture, ethnicity, and social context. Our overarching goal is to apply this information toward developing more effective approaches aimed at serving and supporting battered Black women and their families from all facets of our community. Featured panelists and guests will include: scholars and researchers who address various facets of intimate partner violence among various Black Americans; national thought leaders who address culture and social context in the Black community; practitioners – from the “historical” African American community, as well as African immigrant and refugee communities, and Latino and Caribbean Communities within the United States – who work with Black battered women; and other advocates, artists, and other stakeholders. IDVAAC is convening the conference in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. Please join us for this important event.