Preventing Child Maltreatment in the U.S.: Multicultural Considerations

By Milton A Fuentes, Rachel R. Singer and Renee L. DeBoard-Lucas

Preventing Child Maltreatment: Multicultural Considerations in the United States is the first book in a concentrated series that examines child maltreatment across minoritized, cultural groups.  Specifically, this volume examines core multicultural concepts (e.g., intersectionality, acculturation, spirituality, oppression) as they relate to child maltreatment in the United States, while the other books take a closer look at particular ethnic or racial communities in this country. Additionally, this book examines child maltreatment through the intersection of feminist, multicultural, and prevention/wellness promotion lenses.  Recommendations for treatment in each book build on a foundation of prevention and wellness promotion, along with multicultural and feminist theories. Throughout this book, five case studies, which are introduced in Chapter One, are revisited to help the readers make important and meaningful connections between theory and practice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Release date: Sep 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781978822597

Book preview

Introduction

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults.

—Frederick Douglass

Child maltreatment is a major public health concern, disproportionally affecting communities of color. This book is part of a concentrated series of books that examines child maltreatment across minoritized, cultural groups. Specifically, this volume examines core multicultural concepts (e.g., intersectionality, acculturation, spirituality, oppression) as they relate to child maltreatment in the United States, while the other books take a closer look at particular ethnic or racial communities (e.g., Black, Latinx, American Indian and Alaska Native) in this country. Additionally, this book examines child maltreatment through the interaction of feminist, multicultural and prevention/wellness promotion lenses. Recommendations for treatment in each book build on a foundation of prevention and promotion, along with multicultural and feminist theories. The authors of this introductory volume include an academician (Milton Fuentes) and two practitioners (Rachel Singer and Renee DeBoard-Lucas); all of us are experts in child maltreatment and multiculturalism. We take a culture-centered approach, in which all aspects of child maltreatment are considered through a cultural lens. Additionally, where relevant, we encourage readers to apply Goodman et al.’s (2004) six key social justice principles, which are informed by feminist and multicultural theories. These principles include engaging in self-examination; sharing power; giving voice to the oppressed; raising consciousness; focusing on strengths and leaving clients with valuable tools. Lastly, throughout the book, five case studies, which are introduced in chapter 1 , are revisited to help the readers make important and meaningful connections between theory and practice.

Engaging in Self-Examination and Understanding Positionality

As advised by numerous diversity experts (Falicov, [2013] 2014; Gallardo, 2014), it is critical for child maltreatment professionals to understand their own socio-cultural profiles and positions and how these factors may affect their work with clients, families and communities. This process, known as reflexivity (Cumming-Potvin, 2013), is associated with one of Goodman et al.’s (2004) principles, engaging in self-examination, discussed further in chapter 4 . To facilitate this process and model this best practice, what follow are the authors’ self-reflective narratives. Practitioners are encouraged to consider our profiles as well as their own, as they work with their clients. More tools for facilitating this process are discussed in chapters 3 and 4.

Dr. Milton Fuentes is a light-skinned, Spanish-English bilingual Puerto Rican, who grew up in a traditional Puerto Rican household. His mother has a second-grade education and his father made it up to ninth grade; his parents both highly valued family, education and Catholicism. Hence, he attended private Catholic schools from first grade up to and including college. While he currently does not identify as Catholic, he does consider himself spiritual, meditating every day and embracing Buddhist ideology. While Fuentes’s identity is quite nuanced, factors that inform his teaching, research, and practice include his light-skin privilege, his first-generation status, his bilingualism, and his ethnicity. When working with Latinx clients, Fuentes engages in a comparative process, recognizing the ways in which he is similar and dissimilar from them. While he prefers to use specific ethnic terms (e.g., Puerto Rican), at times he opts for the term Latinx to capture the diverse communities in the United States from Latin America and to be gender-inclusive. Dr. Fuentes strives to maintain humility, recognizing that the field of multiculturalism is dynamic and evolving; yet, that does not stop him from pursuing cultural excellence in his professional endeavors.

Dr. Rachel Singer identifies as White and Jewish (Sephardic and Ashkenazi). She is a third-generation immigrant whose grandfathers immigrated to the United States from Poland and the Ukraine, fleeing persecution due to their Jewish identities. Interwoven into her Jewish identity is the cultural principle of Tikun Olam, which translates to a moral obligation to identify inequities in the world and aim to repair them. She recognizes that the intersecting aspects of her identity afford her both high and low power positions, depending on her interpersonal and social contexts. Dr. Singer’s family and cultural histories have shaped her professional choices, including her current work conducting asylum evaluations of refugees. She works in an outpatient practice providing therapy with clients of all ages. Prior to working as a psychologist, Singer obtained her teaching certification in elementary education. She has taught elementary, college, and graduate level students.

Dr. Renee DeBoard-Lucas identifies as a White woman with a French and Pennsylvania Dutch background. She is a first-generation college graduate who recognizes and appreciates the opportunities that a college and graduate education has afforded her. This appreciation informs her supervision of mental health trainees, her clinical work with youth who have experienced abuse, neglect, or both, and her passion for advocacy. Over time, DeBoard-Lucas has become increasingly aware of the ways that her White privilege impacts her daily lived experience, and she attempts to use that privilege to amplify the voices of those whom her ancestors have oppressed. Dr. DeBoard-Lucas is committed to a lifelong journey of anti-racist work.

Feminist Theory

We examine child maltreatment through the lens of feminist theory. Feminist theory arose as an alternative to prevailing theories for understanding sexism, sexual exploitation, and women’s psychological distress, oppression, and related inequality. A major aim of this approach is to analyze and dismantle the patriarchal system that leads to these pernicious dynamics (hooks, 2015). A key concept that emerged from this framework is intersectionality, which considers the intersection of various identities (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, age) and its impact on one’s identity and functioning, as it relates to power and privilege (Howard and Renfrow, 2014). Within feminist paradigms evolved other derivatives to more accurately portray and meet the needs of BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). For example, womanism centers the experiences, conditions, and concerns of Black women; it is a sociopolitical framework that centralizes gender concerns as well as other forms of oppression (race, class, sexuality) (Bryant-Davis and Comas-Diaz, 2016). Specifically, womanism identifies and criticizes sexism in the Black American community and racism in the feminist community (Longley, 2020, para. 2). Similarly, mujerismo expands traditional feminism by focusing on the centrality of community, mutual caring, and global solidarity; while aiming towards collective liberation and transformation (Bryant-Davis and Comas-Diaz, 2016, 10). Within Indigenous communities, traditional notions of feminism are rejected due to their ties to colonialism and oppression; instead, Indigenous feminism focuses on decolonization, promoting sovereignty and human rights, embracing the matriarch, and seeking wisdom from elders (Deer, 2019; Gearon, 2021). Ross et al. (forthcoming) use indigenous feminist principles to dismantle the deficit narrative proffered in the United States around Native communities and instead construct an accurate and strengths-based narrative that better serves their communities. For a deeper understanding of these various frameworks, we direct readers to other volumes in this series, which adopt and apply their respective feminist frameworks to their particular communities (Calzada et al., forthcoming; Phillips et al., forthcoming; Ross et al., forthcoming).

Borrowing from these various feminist tenets, throughout this book we consider how child maltreatment is caused and informed by patriarchal forces that promote the rights, privileges, power, and wellbeing of some over others in society. We pay special attention to women, children, and communities of color, and consider ways to enfranchise these populations. As we explore child maltreatment, we use these various feminist frameworks to understand key feminist concepts promoted by BIPOC scholars, such as intersectionality, critical consciousness, structural oppression, and empowerment.

Multicultural Theory

Over the past few decades, theoreticians and practitioners have started to appreciate the power and influence of culture on a person’s wellbeing. For example, Pederson (1990) argued that the multicultural perspective had emerged as fourth force in mental health counselling arenas, following psychodynamic, behavioral, and humanistic frameworks. He observed that multiculturalism includes ethnographic variables (e.g., race, nationality, language), demographic variables (e.g., gender, age), and memberships, which are inclusive of the multiple contexts that individuals inhabit. These components reveal the complex and dynamic nature of multiculturalism. Also, recognizing the multidimensional, complex, and nuanced aspects of culture, (1983), a well-known multicultural scholar of Latinx and diverse communities offered the following definition of culture:

Culture is those sets of shared world views, meanings, and adaptive behaviors derived from simultaneous membership and participation in a variety of contexts, such as language; rural, urban or suburban setting; race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and sexual variance, religion, disability, nationality; employment, education and occupation, political ideology, stage of migration/acculturation, partaking of similar historical moments and ideologies (xiv–xv).

Most, if not all, helping professions require practitioners who address child maltreatment to understand the significant influence of culture and to develop wide-ranging competency in this key area. For example, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2015) not only aspires to embrace and maintain a diverse membership, but they are also committed to diversity and equity in all their endeavors including practice, research, and training. Additionally, the National Association of Social Workers (2013) requires child welfare practitioners to be responsive to a family’s culture (e.g., values, customs, and beliefs), as they design their service plans. Finally, the American Psychological Association (APA) (2017b) urges psychologists who address child maltreatment to be cognizant of cultural differences, including factors such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, disability, and socioeconomic status. The APA requires psychologists to eliminate or address any biases associated with these factors as they work with their clients. To guide these efforts, APA recently released the Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality (APA, 2017b). These guidelines urge practitioners to engage in child maltreatment efforts that reduce trauma and promote resiliency in our communities, with a special focus on practice, research, and consultation. The guidelines are discussed extensively in chapters 3 and 4.

Social Justice: Where Feminism Meets Multiculturalism

Goodman et al. (2004) utilized tenets from both feminism and multiculturalism to identify six principles that practitioners can use in their efforts to promote social justice in child welfare and related social services. These principles include engaging in self-examination; sharing power; giving voice to the oppressed; raising consciousness; focusing on strengths; and leaving clients with valuable tools. Since then, other scholars have developed models that closely align with these principles. See, for example, French et al’s (2020) Radical Healing Framework and the Healing Ethno and Racial Trauma (HEART) framework (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2019); both of these models are discussed further in chapters 2, 3, and 4. Throughout this book, we apply these six principles in our efforts to better understand, prevent, and address child maltreatment. Chapter 4 provides an in-depth discussion of each principle and illustrates how they connect to our five cases.

Prevention and Wellness Promotion Theory

Finally, throughout this book, we also address child maltreatment through the public health framework promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Anderson et al., 2019; CDC, n.d.-g), which attempts to prevent child maltreatment through a three-pronged approach: primary, secondary and tertiary. Hence, this framework considers the complexity of child maltreatment, as there are those children and families who can potentially be affected by child maltreatment, those who are at-risk of being affected by it, or those who are affected by it. Thus, the need for three types of prevention. This model is discussed further in chapter 3 . In addition to prevention, community psychologists have long advocated for the promotion of wellness, arguing that that the absence of illness does not necessarily lead to optimal individual or community functioning (Jason et al., 2019). Instead, this branch of psychology asserts that wellness is a combination of physical, psychological, and social health, including attainment of personal goals and well-being (19). To this end, guided by Goodman et al.’s (2004) principles, in this book we enumerate numerous strategies for promoting wellness by focusing on strengths, raising consciousness, sharing power, empowering communities, and promoting advocacy.

Book Structure

Chapter 1 begins with an overview of child maltreatment. The chapter defines child maltreatment and identifies the various type of child maltreatment, including neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, differentiating between acts of commission and acts of omission. Another section reviews the prevalence of child maltreatment. Chapter 1 also defines and discusses risk and protective factors associated with child maltreatment, providing an ecological framework to highlight its nuanced and complex nature. Specifically, the chapter looks at various elements that foster or prevent child maltreatment, including at individual, relational, community, and societal levels. Lastly, throughout this chapter and in each subsequent chapter relevant connections are made to the five case studies, exploring and applying the tenets of multiculturalism and