The delivery of cross-cultural family violence prevention education

• Main Author: Morrish, Margot
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/1314

This study explored cross cultural family violence prevention delivery with immigrant women and their families. Three case studies provided insight into facilitators' perspectives on effective cross cultural family violence facilitation practices and their professional development needs, based on these questions: (1) What did selected facilitators identify as effective violence prevention practices with immigrant women and their families in community settings? (2) What obstacles/sensitivities did selected facilitators experience in the delivery of violence prevention to immigrant women and their families? How were these addressed? (3) How did selected facilitators assess the adequacy of their own knowledge and skills to conduct violence prevention with immigrant women and their families? (4) What were facilitators' recommendations for ongoing family violence prevention in ethno cultural community settings? The facilitators, including one man and two women, organized and delivered violence prevention sessions with community members. As adult educators, they facilitated participants' reflection on personal experiences and the social problem of violence, in order to prevent violence in families and in their communities. The facilitators' collaborated with the researcher in a qualitative study to explore family violence prevention in non formal community settings. The researcher conducted interviews, observed three sessions and held one focus group meeting. Effective facilitation practices were identified to prevent violence in the lives of immigrant women and their families. An outline of key factors in facilitating reflection and changes toward non violence and a framework of delivery components were developed. The study suggests that these tools can be useful to facilitators for ongoing family violence prevention delivery and professional development. The results of this study support the work of the Manitoba Cross Cultural Coalition for the Prevention of Family Violence.