RE: Dear list members:

["Scott Linder" <shlinder@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This email brings up many insightful questions.  For example, how do 
differences in cultures' perceptions of gender roles and collectivism affect 
the reporting of sexual abuse and family abuse internationally? And how do 
these differences affect the response by the local communities and 
authorities?

Scott Linder


>From: "Ron Kokish" <ron@delko.net>
>Reply-To: CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
>To: Child Maltreatment Researchers   
><CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
>Subject: RE: Dear list members:
>Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 08:47:43 -0700
>
>Fred,
>
>I just wanted to let you know that your post about Alaskan Natives is one 
>of
>the most concise, relevant and interesting things I have ever read on this
>list or, for that matter, anywhere.  The conditions you are working with
>call for social work in its most essential form and I'm almost (but not
>quite) inspired enough to go to Alaska and try to help. Any research
>involved in this work would probably not be very scientific, but definitely
>fascinating.
>
>I would have sent this back-channel, but there was no email address in your
>signature line.
>***************************************************************************
>  Ron Kokish at Delson-Kokish Associates, P.O. Box 476, Trinidad, CA 95570
>         Clinical and Forensic Evaluations, Consultation & Training
>                  (707)677-3181-voice   (707)677-0187-fax
>              ron@delko.net-email     www.northcoast.com/~dka
>***************************************************************************
>
>
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
>[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu]On Behalf Of Fred
>Kopacz
>   Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 11:15 AM
>   To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
>   Subject: RE: Dear list members:
>
>
>   I believe our colleague statement about never treating American
>Indians/Alaska Natives differentially is an overgeneralization and fails to
>recognize the actual conditions under which many AIAN people live. Since I
>am most familiar with Alaska, my remarks are applicable only within this
>state; although, some may be more broadly applicable to life on lower 48
>reservations as well.
>
>
>
>   First, we all recognize that the number one goal in the situation is to
>protect the child from harm. The reality is doing so typically means police
>and judiciary action. Those resources are not available in most Alaska
>villages. Let me cite a few statistics from a recent DOJ proposal. Alaska
>Natives comprise 16% of the state's total population. I believe this
>constitutes the highest proportion of Natives of any state. The last data I
>had indicated that Alaska Natives represent 51% of the substantiated 
>reports
>of harm and 54% of children taken into custody by CPS. While Alaska has 325
>communities identified by the U.S, Census, Alaska State Troopers are 
>located
>in only 42 of them. (I believe the state child protection agency has even
>fewer field offices.) The Dept. of Public Safety has attempts a broader
>presence through the Village Public Safety Officer program that operates in
>conjunction with the Native Corporations; however,  VPSO's experience an
>annual turn-over of 55%. Many positions remain vacant and some Native
>Corporations want nothing to do with the program that places minimally
>trained personnel in villages to provide law enforcement. Overlaying this 
>is
>the fact that although Alaska's land area is almost 1/3 that of the
>contiguous 48 states, it is has fewer road miles than Vermont. Getting from
>one village to another requires travel by boat, small aircraft, or snow
>machine. All highly dependent on the weather and inherently dangerous (just
>review the state's accident data). Enforcing (or even getting) a 
>restraining
>or protection order is not a reality under these circumstances. In addition
>to the lack of access to courts and police protection, the other reality of
>village life is that most villages consist of a few families. Thus, a 
>victim
>can not avoid daily contact with the perpetrator and his/her family. If a
>complaint results in incarceration, most victims can expect ostracism and
>retribution from the perpetrator's (and sometimes own) family. Often, the
>victim's only real choice is to try to flee the community and even that is
>not easy because of cost and the fact that the airstrip is the center of
>town and many people go out to greet each arriving flight. I have seen 
>cases
>where disclosure of incest has split families as most of the family became
>angry at the victim revealing the incident caused because it resulted in an
>elder being sent to jail.  Coupled with the fact that many Alaska Natives
>are highly suspicious of the courts and child protection agency anyway
>because they perceive that all these institutions ever do send the men and
>children out of town to jail or foster care after which they always seem to
>come back with more problems than they started.
>
>
>
>   Further complicating the issues is the fact that the rate of FAS and the
>spectrum of prenatal alcohol exposure conditions disproportionately affects
>Alaska Natives. While typically we view this as a problem of children, it
>should be viewed as a problem of adults. While not necessary to recite the
>clinical issues involved in the condition, most would agree that
>impulsivity, poor judgment, inability to predict consequences, and having 
>no
>concept of time are not attributes of good parenting.
>
>
>
>   There are no easy, straight forward solutions to this highly complex 
>issue
>and, I believe, that, at least in Alaska, we need to develop an entirely
>different approach that is rooted in Native cultural and not Western
>thinking. The Hollow Waters experience in Canada offers the basis for such
>an approach and I am hoping to adapt it as part of a grass roots community
>development initiative being put forth in this state.
>
>
>
>   Fred Kopacz
>
>   Southcentral Foundation
>
>   Anchorage, Alaska
>
>
>
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: Freya Schultz [mailto:freya@co.santa-barbara.ca.us]
>   Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 12:46 PM
>   To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
>   Subject: Re: Dear list members:
>
>
>
>   Look at the Family to Family Initiative at the Annie E. Casey site, at
>
>   http://www.aecf.org/familytofamily/ in the tools section.
>
>
>
>   To treat Native Americans differently from best practice for other 
>ethnic
>groups is unconscionable.
>
>
>
>   I used to do the domestic violence program for our local District
>Attorney, and we would NEVER consider removing a child from a mother
>involved in domestic violence who separated from the perpetrator and could
>protect her children.  We worked to strengthen and protect her, and help 
>the
>children in the process.  Many ethnic groups respond well to the focus on
>enlisting the mother in protecting her children from repeating the cycle,
>when other reasons to protect herself are not culturally acceptable 
>(women's
>rights, etc.)..
>
>
>
>   We were the first LEA grant in the country to do this type of program ,
>with published success rates (starting in 1978).  The only thing that works
>is to get the perpetrator under the control of the courts, remove the
>decision to prosecute from the victims, and lodge it with the prosecuting
>agency, where it belongs.  The victim is only a witness, in this paradigm.
>I will try to dig up the research here at UCSB on this issue.  Removing the
>children from the nonabusing spouse compounds the harm to the children.  
>Our
>district attorney designed the National College of District Attorneys
>curriculum on how to use victim services to accomplish the goal of
>prosecution AND helping the victims at the same time.
>
>
>
>   Freya Schultz
>
>   Santa Barbara, CA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>   Freya Schultz
>   Staff Analyst
>   Santa Barbara County Social Services
>   234 Camino del Remedio
>   Santa Barbara, CA 93110
>   (805) 681-4626
>   <freya@co.santa-barbara.ca.us>
>
>   >>> AHAGEMEI@che.umn.edu 07/16/02 09:14AM >>>
>   Dear list members:
>   I received a local request for information that I am hoping you can help
>with. An advocacy organization that is working with some Indian Child
>Welfare Act (ICWA) lawyers called looking for research to support best
>practice regarding Indian children, removal from families, placements, and
>services. The three best practice positions they are working on are:
>   1. Whenever possible, it is beneficial to keep a child with a
>parent/mother in situations where there is domestic violence and she is 
>able
>to gain resources to keep herself and her children safe.
>   2. Removal of children from their family/mother/parent is detrimental 
>and
>should be avoided unless all other options have been exhausted.
>   3. Services and interventions that are culturally specific and 
>culturally
>senstive to Native American/American Indian families will yield better
>results than those which are not.
>   Can you please point me is some directions about such research? I am 
>going
>to search the NCCAN database, too.
>   Thanks,
>   Anna
>
>
>
>   Annelies Hagemeister, PhD, MSW
>   Link Project Coordinator, MINCAVA
>   www.mincava.umn.edu/link
>   School of Social Work
>   University of Minnesota
>   St. Paul, MN 55108
>   PH: 612-625-2216
>   FX: 612-625-4288
>   612-625-2216
>




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