Type:	Report
Title:	The exploration of the nature and understanding of family and domestic violence within Sudanese, Somalian, Ethiopian, Liberian and Sierra Leonean communities and its impact on individuals, family relations, the community and settlement
Authors:	Fisher, Colleen
Keywords:	CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse);Refugee communities;Prevention;Community attitudes;Community education
Year:	2009
Publisher:	Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors, Perth
Notes:	General Overview: This report discusses the findings of a Western Australian study which investigated five African communities’ experiences of and attitudes to domestic and family violence, post-settlement in Australia. Objectives: The study aimed to explore how violence is conceptualised by community members, their views on its impact and causes, and the legal and community responses to violence. It also sought to identify gaps in current service delivery and responses. Methods:The research involved interviews and focus groups with 78 individuals, including 52 community members (24 male, 28 female), two community leaders and 24 support agency staff. The researcher was assisted by a team of bi-lingual, bi-cultural community members who were trained to undertake interviews with members of their respective communities. The study was guided by a Steering Committee, consisting of one member from each community represented in the research and a member of the Family and Domestic Violence Unit in the Western Australian Department for Communities. A literature review, included in the report, covered the following topics: * the refugee experience, settlement and violence Results: One key finding of the study is that domestic and family violence within the five communities occurs in the context of perceived tensions between community cultural and western values. The study highlights the effect of western social and legal systems on changing family and gender roles, in particular the complex dynamics in families around access to Centrelink payments. These tensions influence how domestic and family violence and its causes are understood within the five communities. Conclusion:The author uses an ecological model to explain domestic and family violence in the five communities. In addition to the ecological model’s four levels – the individual, relationships, mesosystem and community – the author proposes a fifth level, ‘western society’. The report does not make specific policy recommendations but emphasises the importance of community ownership of the issue and solutions in attempting to ‘move forward’. It also highlights the need for education and prevention.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/18964
ISBN:	9780980547443
Physical description:	xxiv, 150 p. ; 30 cm.
Appears in Collections:	Reports

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