Developing Sustainable, Culturally-Relevant Approaches to Reaching Men of Color Engaging in Intimate Partner Violence

Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) researchers and practitioners have started to explore how culture shapes the IPV experience and interventions (e.g. Bent-Goodley, 2001; Weil & Lee, 2004). Despite an increased understanding of cultural concerns in the literature, much current IPV research and practice fails to adequately address issues relevant to communities of color (Malley-Morrison & Hines, 2007). Men of color are disproportionately represented in IPV arrests, despite similar or lower propensity to abuse compared to White males (Buttell and Carney, 2005).

Men of color face multiple barriers to accessing IPV intervention, prior to arrest and mandatory treatment. Although there have been numerous domestic violence awareness-raising campaigns, most do not focus on behavior change. Moreover, how IPV is defined and addressed by the mainstream population often does not account for the unique cultural realities facing persons of color.

Given the challenges facing communities of color, IPV scholarship can be more culturally competent and meaningful if communities themselves are involved in the research process (Sullivan et al., 2005). This paper discusses how structural racism has impacted the treatment of men of color engaging in IPV, explores barriers to reaching this population early, and offers an alternative for early intervention with abusive men of color.

Methods: The investigator's earlier project, The Men's Domestic Abuse Check-Up (MDACU), used a variety of social marketing channels to recruit adult male IPV perpetrators from the general population (Mbilinyi et al., 2008). Of the 348 adult men who were screened during a 12-month period, 121 (35%) were men of color: 16% African-American men, 8% Latino, 3% each Asian and American-Indian/Alaska Native, 2% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 3% biracial. Although the radio was the most effective marketing channel for all men, men of color were twice as likely to have been recruited by “other marketing channels”, including flyers at community establishments, family or friend, and other professional referrals.

Based on MDACU's promising marketing results for male perpetrators of color and the dearth of published culturally-specific marketing and intervention strategies, we conducted in-person and phone interviews with ten practitioners from across the U.S. who address issues of IPV with men of color. We selected practitioners with at least 10 years of experience and ensured representation of at least one practitioner from each community of color: African-American, American-Indian, Asian, and Latino. All interviews were guided by a semi-structured interview guide developed by the research team.

Results: Interviews with the ten practitioners confirmed the MDACU project's findings for men of color, in particular the importance of recruitment through various community networks. In addition, practitioners emphasized key messages for communities of color, including parenthood, community well-being, spirituality, respect, and the perpetrator's capacity to change.

Implications: Community-based social marketing strategies, which offer men of color opportunities to voluntarily enter treatment, show great promise as an early intervention approach for perpetrators of IPV. This paper offers an analysis and tools for researchers and community agencies to collaborate in order to develop more sustainable, relevant IPV intervention and prevention strategies for men of color.