The Meaning of Being Incarcerated on a Domestic Violence Charge and its Impact on Self and Family Among Latino Immigrant Batterers

ABSTRACT

This study explores how Latino immigrant male batterers make sense of their incarceration for domestic violence in the U.S. and its impact on their lives and on the lives of their family members. The convenient sample consisted of 15 Latino male immigrants, who were attending a batterers' intervention program in a metropolitan city in California. Seventeen semi-structured, open-ended questions were conducted with Latino immigrant batterers at a batterer treatment center in southern California. Anger, gender role, acculturation stresses, and lack of self-control were identified as the main themes leading to domestic violence. The respondents also reported a need to expand community education on issues of domestic violence. Findings of the study supported the important role of raising cultural awareness in addressing the batterers' attitudes and behaviors. In addition, findings of the study highlighted the concerns of the impact of criminal records on immigration status, employment, and family stability. Finally, results of the study raise the important issue pertaining to the role of victimized status in the batterers' self-concept. Implications for developing prevention and treatment programs are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Latino immigrants
• domestic violence
• batterers

Notes

1. The term “intimate partner violence” and “domestic violence” are used interchangeably in this article.