Understanding the Environment: Domestic Violence and Prevention in Urban Aboriginal Communities

  • Sharon Goulet City of Calgary
  • Liza Lorenzetti University of Calgary
  • Christine A Walsh University of Calgary
  • Lana Wells University of Calgary
  • Caroline Claussen University of Calgary

Abstract

Aboriginal women in Canada are at significantly higher risk for spousal violence and spousal homicide than non-Aboriginal women. Although the majority of Aboriginal people in Canada live in urban settings, there is a dearth of literature focusing on the experiences and violence prevention efforts of urban Aboriginal peoples. In order to understand issues relevant to the prevention of domestic violence among this population, we employed Aboriginal community development principles to conduct a scoping review of the relevant literature to explore the meanings and definitions, risk and protective factors, and prevention/intervention strategies within urban Aboriginal communities. Our study underscores that a number of domestic violence risk and protective factors are present in both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. However, the multifaceted impacts of colonization, including residential school trauma is a key factor in understanding domestic violence in urban Aboriginal contexts. The limited available research on this topic highlights the need for Aboriginal-led research directed towards eliminating the legacy of violence for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. 

Author Biographies

Sharon Goulet, City of Calgary
Sharon Goulet is a Red River Métis and member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Sharon has lived in Calgary for 30 years, and has worked at the City of Calgary for the past 24 years in a variety of positions that support and advocate social change for Indigenous Calgarians.
Liza Lorenzetti, University of Calgary
Liza Lorenzetti was born in Québec and is from Italian ancestry. She is and assistant professor and PhD candidate in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary Alberta. She has more than twenty years experience in domestic violence prevention and works from an anti-oppressive and social justice paradigm. Liza is committed to learning and integrating a decolonizing lens in her teaching and practice. 
Christine A Walsh, University of Calgary
Christine A. Walsh, PhD is a professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. She has a longstanding interest in research collaborations with the Aboriginal community in order to improve health, wellness and social justice. She was a member of the research team that developed the Ownership Control Access and Procession (OCAP) principles to enable self-determination over all research concerning First Nations, an investigator on the inaugural National and Ontario First Nations and Inuit Regional Health Surveys and the principal investigator on the study, Aboriginal Women’s Voices: Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness and Incarceration, which produced recommendation for incarceration and homelessness in partnership with women with directed lived experience.
Lana Wells, University of Calgary
Lana Wells is the Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence at the University of Calgary, Alberta leading Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence. Lana is born in Ontario, Canada. She is a dedicated advocate for social change and has led many efforts to create progressive policies and practices within Alberta. As a non-Aboriginal person, she is committed to learning and integrating a decolonizing lens in her teaching and practice.
Caroline Claussen, University of Calgary
Caroline Claussen (Faculty of Sociology, Doctoral student) has more than ten years of experience working with both the public and non-profit sectors. Caroline has a background in community-based research; evaluation; outcome measurement capacity building; and project management. She has worked with university research units, community organizations and community-based funders in Calgary.
11(1)
Published
2016-09-22
How to Cite
Goulet, S., Lorenzetti, L., Walsh, C. A., Wells, L., & Claussen, C. (2016). Understanding the Environment: Domestic Violence and Prevention in Urban Aboriginal Communities. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 11(1). Retrieved from https://fpcfr.com/index.php/FPCFR/article/view/292
Issue
Vol. 11 No. 1 (2016)
Section
Articles

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