The Culture of Domestic Violence Advocacy: Values of Equality/Behaviors of Control

Abstract

Domestic violence advocacy is a culture unto itself. The themes it addresses, in combination with the dominant frames of discourse (Fairclough 1989) used in the daily conversations of advocates and their supporters, contribute to the stagnation of domestic violence advocacy as a profession and stunt its ability to address the non-homogenous, culturally diverse group of men, women and children living under the tyranny of violence within their homes. Social and political ties to funding institutions and government agencies reify existing concepts about domestic violence education and allow little opportunity for improvement. This article details the methodology and findings of a qualitative, ethnographic research project conducted at an undisclosed domestic violence agency. Qualitative results were analyzed using methods of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis. Results revealed four major discourse themes that contribute to the current culture of domestic violence advocacy: (1) systemic contributions to the normalization of crisis, (2) cultural contradictions between paradigms and practice of domestic violence advocacy (3) ambiguity over the line between childhood and adulthood and (4) assumptions about "victim-hood".

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