*4.3.2 Working with abusive men*

*Global Social Work - Cutting Edge Issues and Critical Reflections*

*Children Services just close the file and give it to us; and sometimes they set a plan and the plan must be followed by us and the family. Children's Services are not involved in finding a solution, they are only involved in the monitoring.*

The third problem arose because of insufficient resources for the brokers in terms of having enough funds to employ additional staff and their roles being vulnerable to budget cuts. As a result, the brokers ended up with a large caseload of families to follow-up that they were unable to close but have been closed by

The participants expressed that their role is not clearly defined or understood by service providers from the multidisciplinary teams that they work with. These include health care workers, psychologists, social workers, and nurses. They alluded to these professionals having clearly assigned roles, but their role, being vulnerable to budget cuts, impacted the services they can provide for immigrant families. As such, the brokers struggled with defining their identity as part of the professional team although many aspects of the work they did overlapped with those of social

*People understand what a nurse does, what a doctor does, what a cleaning lady does, what housekeeping does. But what does a cultural broker do. How is this* 

A related challenge for the participants when working with professionals from other disciplines is figuring out which aspects of their work complement those of other members of the multidisciplinary team. The difficulty also included sharing of information and finding the best way to work as a team in the interest of the

*It's a new collaborative practice and we now need more shared clarity on how to be* 

As discussed earlier, the participant brokers also served multiple roles in their communities. They are recognized by their community members as educators, advocates, and leaders and are expected to work in the interest of the whole community. Participants experienced tensions while trying to balance their different

In their role as cultural brokers, participants must inform Children's Services if DV is a persisting problem in the families they are "assigned" to work with, and children are exposed to the violence. The participants shared that in doing so they run the risk of not only losing the trust of the family but also being seen by their community members as agents of Children's Services. As community leaders, one of their roles involves educating families about DV and child protection issues and providing encouragement and support to victims of abuse (mostly women), to

*(their role as cultural brokers) different from a social worker?*

*complementary. This is a new area we are moving into now.*

**4.3 Tensions arising from multiple roles and responsibilities**

*4.3.1 Challenges arising while balancing their multiple roles*

families. In this context, one of the participants added:

*4.2.3 Lack of a clear definition of their role within a multidisciplinary context*

Another participant added:

workers. As one participant put it:

roles and responsibilities.

Children's Services.

**22**

Participants shared that since men are often the authority figures in many immigrant families, educating them about domestic violence was perceived by some as challenging this culturally sanctioned role. While working with abusive men, participants therefore did not confront them about their cultural beliefs. Instead they initiated a negotiating process with the objective of educating them about the law and the consequences for them and their family if they continued the violence. This included explaining the role of Children's Services and the criminal justice system and the financial impact on the family. As explained by one participant:

*I've said to families (meaning the man), 'if this happens again, this is what is going to happen - the police is gonna come; they will arrest you; you are gonna lose time at work; it will create another financial stress for your family and it is costly, \$250 an hour to \$350 an hour. This is going to be your reality. So, you have the choice of whether this is gonna happen again. And even if no one calls in the house, a neighbor is gonna call like they did last time'.*

The big challenge however was identifying and dealing with abusive men who knew the system well, were manipulative and posed as victims instead of perpetrators.

#### *4.3.3 Threats to personal safety*

Some participants reported that they had been accused by immigrant women's husbands for causing the break-up of their families by informing Children's Services or supporting their wives to report violence and seek safety. This had led to threats of physical harm for at least three participants. One participant shared a husband's rant in the following quote: "We were fine, everything was going hunky-dory, and now you come in and you are empowering her, and you are telling her things that

she should not know. There is no need for her to know." The participants compared the increased risk of harm they faced in their work with that faced by child welfare staff. They felt that their risk was much higher as child welfare staff did not reside within their communities. They spoke to their direct involvement and interaction with activities and members within their community, all of which helped in serving their community better, but at the same time also put them at increased risk for harm since they are more visible to persons who have committed violence and have been reported to the police. As a result of these safety concerns, participants explained that they need guidance on protocols to keep themselves safe when carrying out their work. In this context, one of the participants stated: "There needs to be a lot more direction for us in figuring out when it is safe, and when it is not for us.*"*

## **4.4 Factors that increase the risk of violence in immigrant families and lead to involvement with Children's Services**

Participants identified three factors that increased these risks, especially among newcomer families (<10 years in Canada).

#### *4.4.1 Changes in traditional roles after migration*

Participants shared that in many new immigrant families, there is a shift in traditional gender roles on migration, whereby females (wives) now find themselves in the role of breadwinners, as they are usually the first ones to gain employment, in part due to their willingness to take up menial, low-paying jobs. Their male partners (husbands), who are the traditional breadwinners, have a more difficult time getting jobs and, even when they do, many are disillusioned because the jobs that are available to them, are often low grade, and well below their educational achievement, and job status gained in their country of origin. In the absence of community support programs, this shift in family roles and the added stress associated with settlement (financial, acculturative, racism, and discrimination) changed the power dynamics within immigrant families with some men resorting to violence as a response to re-establishing their control as head of the family.

In the case of families where DV is already a pre-existing problem before migration, women felt empowered when they learnt that violence is a crime in Canada, and they have access to DV support resources that are not available in their country of origin. As reported by a participant:

*back home was less family violence (women having accepted their subordinate role), but here since woman was getting more power, they do not have to suffer it. They have somewhere they can reach out to some other people and cut this violence that they are suffering from.*

#### *4.4.2 Risk of violence when living with extended family*

Participants reported that often women living with extended family members experienced violence not only from their husbands but also from their in-laws. The most common was daughters-in-law experiencing abuse both from husbands and the mothers-in-law who justified their sons' violent behaviors by blaming their daughters-in-law as responsible for the violence. A participant recalled what a mother who lived with her son and daughter-in-law had told her:

*My son is good. I know he is a little bit upset. He is a little bit out of control. He is a little bit aggressive, but he has a good heart, but she does not know how to bring out the goodness in him.*

**25**

**5. Discussion**

*Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence…*

from their relative. This was because of lack of knowledge of this option.

*4.4.3 Risk of violence arising from undiagnosed and untreated mental health and* 

Participants stated that undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems are a significant issue in many immigrant families that they work with, especially those that have experienced trauma of persecution in their country of origin. While those who suffered from unresolved trauma often found it difficult to talk about their experiences because of the associated pain, others did not seek or accept help because of the stigma associated with mental illness in their communities, lack of information on available services, and sometimes fear and lack of trust in formal systems of care. One of the participants reported, "left untreated, their condition deteriorates, those who suffer become less productive at work and within their homes, and this spirals into a domestic crisis." Participants shared that many family caregivers also put themselves at risk of harm by not seeking court intervention to have their mentally ill relative committed to a mental health facility, even after repeatedly hearing threats of harm

A widespread problem that participants had noted in new immigrant families especially among women is complaints of lack of sleep and unexplained illnesses. These conditions often led to disruptions in their daily activities and had negative effects on their ability to fulfill their parenting and household duties. Husbands who lacked understanding of what is happening with their wives mistook their behavior for "laziness" and resorted to punishing them by using physical violence. Another mental health issue that featured very prominently in the caseloads of many participants is addictions among immigrant males. The addictions ranged from alcohol abuse, which was the most prevalent, to gambling, and internet pornography, among others. Participants reported that in many new immigrant families and communities, addiction is not viewed as a problem needing treatment, especially when the addicted male member is still capable of holding his job. His addiction-related abuse toward his family members would be brushed aside by family and community members and they would instead focus on his otherwise good qualities and this served as catalyst for the addicted member to not seek treatment. One of the participants recalled what one female member from her community had

*He goes to work. There is no problem. So, he has a few drinks. He drinks at home, so again that's an okay thing. He only gets mad when he is drunk. Otherwise he is a* 

Participants also shared that since mainstream understanding and treatment for addiction did not fit with the conceptualization of immigrants, men who recognized that they need help or are mandated to get help do not have available to them support

There are only a few studies that have examined the challenges cultural brokers face when working in partnership with mainstream statutory organizations like Children's Services. In a study conducted by Siegel, Montana, and Hernandez [36], cultural brokers expressed that they were viewed by Children's Services workers as *interfering* and as *outsiders* who were greeted with a "who do you think you are?" attitude, rather than community partners working together for the safety and wellbeing of children. Although the brokers in the current study did not mention such

programs or interventions that meet their needs from a cultural perspective.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92078*

shared with her about her brother's addiction:

*good father and a good husband.*

*addiction issues*

*Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92078*

#### *4.4.3 Risk of violence arising from undiagnosed and untreated mental health and addiction issues*

Participants stated that undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems are a significant issue in many immigrant families that they work with, especially those that have experienced trauma of persecution in their country of origin. While those who suffered from unresolved trauma often found it difficult to talk about their experiences because of the associated pain, others did not seek or accept help because of the stigma associated with mental illness in their communities, lack of information on available services, and sometimes fear and lack of trust in formal systems of care. One of the participants reported, "left untreated, their condition deteriorates, those who suffer become less productive at work and within their homes, and this spirals into a domestic crisis." Participants shared that many family caregivers also put themselves at risk of harm by not seeking court intervention to have their mentally ill relative committed to a mental health facility, even after repeatedly hearing threats of harm from their relative. This was because of lack of knowledge of this option.

A widespread problem that participants had noted in new immigrant families especially among women is complaints of lack of sleep and unexplained illnesses. These conditions often led to disruptions in their daily activities and had negative effects on their ability to fulfill their parenting and household duties. Husbands who lacked understanding of what is happening with their wives mistook their behavior for "laziness" and resorted to punishing them by using physical violence.

Another mental health issue that featured very prominently in the caseloads of many participants is addictions among immigrant males. The addictions ranged from alcohol abuse, which was the most prevalent, to gambling, and internet pornography, among others. Participants reported that in many new immigrant families and communities, addiction is not viewed as a problem needing treatment, especially when the addicted male member is still capable of holding his job. His addiction-related abuse toward his family members would be brushed aside by family and community members and they would instead focus on his otherwise good qualities and this served as catalyst for the addicted member to not seek treatment. One of the participants recalled what one female member from her community had shared with her about her brother's addiction:

*He goes to work. There is no problem. So, he has a few drinks. He drinks at home, so again that's an okay thing. He only gets mad when he is drunk. Otherwise he is a good father and a good husband.*

Participants also shared that since mainstream understanding and treatment for addiction did not fit with the conceptualization of immigrants, men who recognized that they need help or are mandated to get help do not have available to them support programs or interventions that meet their needs from a cultural perspective.

#### **5. Discussion**

There are only a few studies that have examined the challenges cultural brokers face when working in partnership with mainstream statutory organizations like Children's Services. In a study conducted by Siegel, Montana, and Hernandez [36], cultural brokers expressed that they were viewed by Children's Services workers as *interfering* and as *outsiders* who were greeted with a "who do you think you are?" attitude, rather than community partners working together for the safety and wellbeing of children. Although the brokers in the current study did not mention such

*Global Social Work - Cutting Edge Issues and Critical Reflections*

**involvement with Children's Services**

*4.4.1 Changes in traditional roles after migration*

a response to re-establishing their control as head of the family.

newcomer families (<10 years in Canada).

of origin. As reported by a participant:

*that they are suffering from.*

*the goodness in him.*

*4.4.2 Risk of violence when living with extended family*

mother who lived with her son and daughter-in-law had told her:

she should not know. There is no need for her to know." The participants compared the increased risk of harm they faced in their work with that faced by child welfare staff. They felt that their risk was much higher as child welfare staff did not reside within their communities. They spoke to their direct involvement and interaction with activities and members within their community, all of which helped in serving their community better, but at the same time also put them at increased risk for harm since they are more visible to persons who have committed violence and have been reported to the police. As a result of these safety concerns, participants explained that they need guidance on protocols to keep themselves safe when carrying out their work. In this context, one of the participants stated: "There needs to be a lot more direction for us in figuring out when it is safe, and when it is not for us.*"*

**4.4 Factors that increase the risk of violence in immigrant families and lead to** 

Participants identified three factors that increased these risks, especially among

Participants shared that in many new immigrant families, there is a shift in traditional gender roles on migration, whereby females (wives) now find themselves in the role of breadwinners, as they are usually the first ones to gain employment, in part due to their willingness to take up menial, low-paying jobs. Their male partners (husbands), who are the traditional breadwinners, have a more difficult time getting jobs and, even when they do, many are disillusioned because the jobs that are available to them, are often low grade, and well below their educational achievement, and job status gained in their country of origin. In the absence of community support programs, this shift in family roles and the added stress associated with settlement (financial, acculturative, racism, and discrimination) changed the power dynamics within immigrant families with some men resorting to violence as

In the case of families where DV is already a pre-existing problem before migration, women felt empowered when they learnt that violence is a crime in Canada, and they have access to DV support resources that are not available in their country

*back home was less family violence (women having accepted their subordinate role), but here since woman was getting more power, they do not have to suffer it. They have somewhere they can reach out to some other people and cut this violence* 

Participants reported that often women living with extended family members experienced violence not only from their husbands but also from their in-laws. The most common was daughters-in-law experiencing abuse both from husbands and the mothers-in-law who justified their sons' violent behaviors by blaming their daughters-in-law as responsible for the violence. A participant recalled what a

*My son is good. I know he is a little bit upset. He is a little bit out of control. He is a little bit aggressive, but he has a good heart, but she does not know how to bring out* 

**24**

attitudes from Children's Services workers, the reasons for some of the frustrations they experienced arising from premature closure of files could be due to factors identified by previous research. These include inadequate organizational preparedness and training for Children's Services workers to work with cultural brokers, engage in shared decision-making about how best to collaboratively address the needs of immigrant families and inadequate introduction of cultural brokers' role to Children's Services workers and other service providers [36]. Thus, despite the existence of a formal partnership between Children's Services and the cultural brokers at the organizational level, it is likely that inadequacies related to planning, coordination, communication, and team work led to cultural brokers' feelings of power imbalance, being taken advantage of, their time and work with families not being acknowledged, and their difficulty in defining their identity within professional service delivery teams.

Another factor that can pose as an impediment to collaborative working between partnering organizations is differences in their mission/goals and accountabilities [45, 46]. Although child protection advocates argue that "the best interests of children cannot be separated from the best interests of their mothers" ([47], p. 7), in practice Children's Services is solely concerned with the rights and safety of children and makes decisions about their safety independently of the safety needs of their mothers [48]. It can use its statutory powers to remove the child from the family if DV continues, an action that indirectly blames and punishes the victim of DV (usually the non-abusing mother) for her inability to protect her children from the abuser. The brokers found it very challenging to align themselves with the narrow focus of Children's Services because they believe in working with the family to mitigate DV and empowering mothers to take steps to ensure their safety and that of their children [40].

The brokers also experienced tensions from another front—conducting themselves as brokers for Children's Services while also serving as advocates/leaders in their marginalized communities. As suggested by previous research, these tensions and dilemmas can arise in the context of the competing responsibilities that some of these roles involve and highlight the tenuous role of the brokers [39]. The brokers recognized the source of these tensions, which is an important first step to addressing them. For example, some of them were accessing professional supervision to deal with abusive immigrant men with strong patriarchal mindsets. Nevertheless, they lacked the resources and support to deal with their safety concerns and fears arising from being seen by community members as agents of Children's Services and "breakers" of families.

The brokers' perspectives on factors that increase the risk of violence and involvement with Children's Services in new immigrant families are supported by past research. For example, the increase in the risk of domestic violence in the context changed family dynamics and threat to traditional masculinities after migration to countries like Canada is supported by previous studies [49–51]. Immigrant women are more likely to live with extended family and are at increased risk of experiencing abuse from extended family members, especially mothers-in-law [52]. A significant body of research supports the brokers' observations of the high incidence of mental health difficulties in new immigrant families, the barriers they face in accessing mental health services like language difficulties, stigma, cultural perceptions of mental illness and addictions, fear and distrust of authorities, lack of cultural safety and information about available services [53–57], and the scarcity of culturally responsive mental health services and community support programs to address these barriers [58, 59]. These findings have implications for the training of health care providers, DV service providers including cultural brokers and Children's Services workers.

**27**

mutual trust.

and the brokers.

*Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence…*

must be planned properly and executed professionally if the goals are to be

The findings of this study suggest that cultural brokers can serve as a significant resource for Children's Services for improving outcomes for immigrant families. However, the partnership between Children's Services and the Brokers Cooperative

achieved. In the following section, we discuss some broad guidelines for improving

At the planning stage, the two partners, in this case Children's Services and the Brokers Cooperative, must not only be clear about the purpose of the partnership but also take into consideration the capacity and resources of their partner and how they can work together despite differences in their goals. Partners with different goals can still work together if they can identify and agree on some common values and principles, as a precursor to defining more specific aims and objectives [60, 61]. In the case of the current partners, a common value/principle could be building better relationships with immigrant families. In terms of assessing capacity and resources, Children's Services is a far more resource-rich partner in terms of power, staff strength, and funds and this can easily set off a power imbalance between the staff of each organization unless roles and expectations are clarified at the very outset. Therefore, planning must include mutual agreement on roles and expectations of each partner and clarity on the depth of the partnership [46]. These include issues like commitment to sharing knowledge and information about families, consultation on needs of families and power sharing in decision-making, level of engagement in developing and executing the family plan, stage/s when brokers will be involved, and how decisions related to file

In terms of sharing information between these partners, there can be an impasse if agreement is not reached on when and how much information will be shared and the limits of confidentiality. For example, since Children's Services has not been historically concerned with the safety needs of mothers, the brokers may not like to share confidential information about the mothers with Children's Services. This is because they work from a non-statutory perspective and believe in empowering mothers. In turn, the child protection service may not be confident that the brokers will share all available information they gather about a family and encourage women to cooperate with their investigations. This may involve exercising their statutory power and bringing pressure on the mother to leave the abusive relationship (or taking her children away), without taking into consideration the challenges she and the children will face after leaving the abusive partner [62]. An agreement must be reached on these and similar important issues to build

During the planning stage, the training and supervision needs of front-line service partners must also be taken into consideration. Cultural brokers must receive training in Children's Services program activities and purposes, child welfare mandates, and how to work with the juvenile court [36]. Similarly, Children's Services workers must be made aware of the resources cultural brokers bring to the partnership in terms of cultural knowledge and experience. At the planning stage, decisions will also have to be made by team leaders about strategies to monitor progress and outcomes and building trust among the Children's Services workers

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92078*

**5.1 Implications for practice and policy**

*5.1.1 Planning the partnership*

closure and follow-up are made.

this partnership based on the findings of this study.

*Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92078*

#### **5.1 Implications for practice and policy**

The findings of this study suggest that cultural brokers can serve as a significant resource for Children's Services for improving outcomes for immigrant families. However, the partnership between Children's Services and the Brokers Cooperative must be planned properly and executed professionally if the goals are to be achieved. In the following section, we discuss some broad guidelines for improving this partnership based on the findings of this study.

#### *5.1.1 Planning the partnership*

*Global Social Work - Cutting Edge Issues and Critical Reflections*

sional service delivery teams.

of their children [40].

and "breakers" of families.

attitudes from Children's Services workers, the reasons for some of the frustrations they experienced arising from premature closure of files could be due to factors identified by previous research. These include inadequate organizational preparedness and training for Children's Services workers to work with cultural brokers, engage in shared decision-making about how best to collaboratively address the needs of immigrant families and inadequate introduction of cultural brokers' role to Children's Services workers and other service providers [36]. Thus, despite the existence of a formal partnership between Children's Services and the cultural brokers at the organizational level, it is likely that inadequacies related to planning, coordination, communication, and team work led to cultural brokers' feelings of power imbalance, being taken advantage of, their time and work with families not being acknowledged, and their difficulty in defining their identity within profes-

Another factor that can pose as an impediment to collaborative working between partnering organizations is differences in their mission/goals and accountabilities [45, 46]. Although child protection advocates argue that "the best interests of children cannot be separated from the best interests of their mothers" ([47], p. 7), in practice Children's Services is solely concerned with the rights and safety of children and makes decisions about their safety independently of the safety needs of their mothers [48]. It can use its statutory powers to remove the child from the family if DV continues, an action that indirectly blames and punishes the victim of DV (usually the non-abusing mother) for her inability to protect her children from the abuser. The brokers found it very challenging to align themselves with the narrow focus of Children's Services because they believe in working with the family to mitigate DV and empowering mothers to take steps to ensure their safety and that

The brokers also experienced tensions from another front—conducting themselves as brokers for Children's Services while also serving as advocates/leaders in their marginalized communities. As suggested by previous research, these tensions and dilemmas can arise in the context of the competing responsibilities that some of these roles involve and highlight the tenuous role of the brokers [39]. The brokers recognized the source of these tensions, which is an important first step to addressing them. For example, some of them were accessing professional supervision to deal with abusive immigrant men with strong patriarchal mindsets. Nevertheless, they lacked the resources and support to deal with their safety concerns and fears arising from being seen by community members as agents of Children's Services

The brokers' perspectives on factors that increase the risk of violence and involve-

ment with Children's Services in new immigrant families are supported by past research. For example, the increase in the risk of domestic violence in the context changed family dynamics and threat to traditional masculinities after migration to countries like Canada is supported by previous studies [49–51]. Immigrant women are more likely to live with extended family and are at increased risk of experiencing abuse from extended family members, especially mothers-in-law [52]. A significant body of research supports the brokers' observations of the high incidence of mental health difficulties in new immigrant families, the barriers they face in accessing mental health services like language difficulties, stigma, cultural perceptions of mental illness and addictions, fear and distrust of authorities, lack of cultural safety and information about available services [53–57], and the scarcity of culturally responsive mental health services and community support programs to address these barriers [58, 59]. These findings have implications for the training of health care providers, DV

service providers including cultural brokers and Children's Services workers.

**26**

At the planning stage, the two partners, in this case Children's Services and the Brokers Cooperative, must not only be clear about the purpose of the partnership but also take into consideration the capacity and resources of their partner and how they can work together despite differences in their goals. Partners with different goals can still work together if they can identify and agree on some common values and principles, as a precursor to defining more specific aims and objectives [60, 61]. In the case of the current partners, a common value/principle could be building better relationships with immigrant families. In terms of assessing capacity and resources, Children's Services is a far more resource-rich partner in terms of power, staff strength, and funds and this can easily set off a power imbalance between the staff of each organization unless roles and expectations are clarified at the very outset. Therefore, planning must include mutual agreement on roles and expectations of each partner and clarity on the depth of the partnership [46]. These include issues like commitment to sharing knowledge and information about families, consultation on needs of families and power sharing in decision-making, level of engagement in developing and executing the family plan, stage/s when brokers will be involved, and how decisions related to file closure and follow-up are made.

In terms of sharing information between these partners, there can be an impasse if agreement is not reached on when and how much information will be shared and the limits of confidentiality. For example, since Children's Services has not been historically concerned with the safety needs of mothers, the brokers may not like to share confidential information about the mothers with Children's Services. This is because they work from a non-statutory perspective and believe in empowering mothers. In turn, the child protection service may not be confident that the brokers will share all available information they gather about a family and encourage women to cooperate with their investigations. This may involve exercising their statutory power and bringing pressure on the mother to leave the abusive relationship (or taking her children away), without taking into consideration the challenges she and the children will face after leaving the abusive partner [62]. An agreement must be reached on these and similar important issues to build mutual trust.

During the planning stage, the training and supervision needs of front-line service partners must also be taken into consideration. Cultural brokers must receive training in Children's Services program activities and purposes, child welfare mandates, and how to work with the juvenile court [36]. Similarly, Children's Services workers must be made aware of the resources cultural brokers bring to the partnership in terms of cultural knowledge and experience. At the planning stage, decisions will also have to be made by team leaders about strategies to monitor progress and outcomes and building trust among the Children's Services workers and the brokers.

#### *5.1.2 Implementing the partnership*

The next step toward developing a good partnership will involve Children's Services organizing training workshops to prepare their staff to work with the brokers. These workshops must be offered periodically due to the high turnover of staff in Children's Services. During these workshops, policy and management support for the partnership will have to be made explicit. The role of the brokers will have to be clarified including what they will not undertake unless they have adequate support from Children's Services workers. The training workshops must also include how to work collaboratively, share power and develop relationships of mutual trust and respect. This will encourage Children's Services workers to consult with brokers before file closure, keep files open for a longer time so that the brokers can be more effective with families, and assign families to brokers early on rather than after decision to close, so that they can work with Children Services workers for a longer period.

Since the brokers face risks to their safety while working in their communities, Children's Services can provide access to safety training protocols that they offer to their own staff. There are other areas where Children's Services can offer support to the brokers. They can support the brokers to get additional funding so that they can recruit more staff to share the heavy caseload that many of them currently have. A mechanism must be developed whereby the work done by brokers with the families they follow-up is recorded in the family case files held by Children's Services. In view of increasing evidence that reduction in DV will also lead to a reduction in the number of referrals to child welfare [10, 11, 14], Children' s Services can help the brokers to initiate preventative programs like mobilizing leadership from within immigrant communities to bring about changes in the patriarchal mindsets of community members. Such preventative programs can also help to alleviate the brokers' fears of being seen by community members as working against the interests of their community.

#### *5.1.3 Capacity building for cultural brokers and front-line service providers*

The brokers in the current study identified the following areas of training for enhancing their capacity and improving outcomes for immigrant families experiencing violence. These include training in family conflict mediation and training to work with immigrant male perpetrators who are manipulative. Since the brokers would like to work more collaboratively with Children's Services workers and service providers from other organizations, they identified the need for training in collaborative practice—a new way of working that allows service providers to share and exchange information, focus on their individual areas of expertise with families, and introduces new members of the team in ways that are welcoming [63]. The brokers believe that such training will also benefit other service providers.

The findings related to mental health difficulties in new immigrant families underscore the critical need for mental health outreach services to provide training to health care workers on creating culturally safe spaces, identifying and responding to the needs of immigrant women, and being alert to the signs and risks of family violence that are often missed due to lack of cultural understanding of DV and work overload [64]. Since DV and child abuse often co-occur in families [10, 11], health care workers in partnership with cultural brokers working with immigrant parents experiencing mental health difficulties can develop specific parenting-related supports for these parents, which may help to prevent issues that lead to Children's Services involvement. Further, Children's Services in partnership with cultural brokers and community groups can help to initiate DV preventative programs like support groups for newcomer immigrant men to help them deal with issues like changing power dynamics in

**29**

Canada

*Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence…*

their families and threat to traditional roles. Such programs are already in existence in some regions and must be further promoted. Another DV preventative program that must be promoted and can reduce the risk of Children's Services intervention is the parenting in two cultures training for newcomer immigrant parents [65], which is currently being offered by some settlement service agencies in Canada. Finally faithbased harm reduction/prevention programs like the HOPE Project of ASPIRE Program run by Muslim Food Bank and Community Services (MFBCS), a nonprofit registered charity, must be initiated in immigrant communities as these have the potential to reduce the incidence of drug and alcohol use among community members through

This study has shed light on how to optimize partnership arrangements between cultural brokers and mainstream organizations like Children's Services from the perspectives of cultural brokers. The study has limitations because of the small sample size of twelve brokers, with only five brokers who participated in all the three focus groups. This sample size however is reasonable for a qualitative inquiry [43]. Despite the small sample size, the findings are significant because they add to the small and growing body of evidence-based knowledge on community-based approaches like the use of cultural brokers as partners to improve outcomes for immigrant families resettling in countries like Canada. It is recommended that future studies on such partnerships include a larger sample of cultural brokers and involve as participants service providers from Children's Services and immigrant families who receive services from cultural brokers. This will provide a more nuanced picture of partnership challenges from different perspectives and how these can be addressed to improve

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92078*

culturally relevant education and interventions [66].

outcomes for immigrant families experiencing violence.

\*Address all correspondence to: jshankar@ucalgary.ca

provided the original work is properly cited.

1 Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary (Central and North),

2 Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta,

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

**6. Conclusion**

**Author details**

Janki Shankar1,2\* and Zetilda Ellis1

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

*Enhancing Service Provision for Immigrant Families Experiencing Domestic Violence… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92078*

their families and threat to traditional roles. Such programs are already in existence in some regions and must be further promoted. Another DV preventative program that must be promoted and can reduce the risk of Children's Services intervention is the parenting in two cultures training for newcomer immigrant parents [65], which is currently being offered by some settlement service agencies in Canada. Finally faithbased harm reduction/prevention programs like the HOPE Project of ASPIRE Program run by Muslim Food Bank and Community Services (MFBCS), a nonprofit registered charity, must be initiated in immigrant communities as these have the potential to reduce the incidence of drug and alcohol use among community members through culturally relevant education and interventions [66].
