Domestic partner abuse treatment programs and cultural competence: The results of a national survey

Partner abuse literature reveals that treatment is less effective with minorities than with their white counterparts. Our survey of partner abuse programs (N = 142) indicates that, for the most part, little or no special effort is being made to understand or accommodate the needs of minority populations. This colorblind approach lacks the effectiveness of a culturally competent approach, winch fosters an environment that helps minority groups succeed in treatment. Do partner abuse programs make efforts to be culturally competent? The major characteristics of an organizational transformation towards cultural competence occur when these programs do the following: (a) network with the minority community, (b) locate outside consultants with expertise in working with minority clients, (c) obtain information concerning service delivery and programming for minority clients, and (d) have at least one bilingual counselor. These four characteristics accounted for .58 of the variance in the minority-focused activities.