Cultural Consensus and Cultural Diversity A Mixed Methods Investigation of Human Service Providers' Models of Domestic Violence

• Published in: Journal of mixed methods research Vol. 2; no. 4; pp. 362 - 387
• Main Authors: Collins, Cyleste C., Dressler, William W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2008; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Abused women; Anthropology; Battered Women; Cognition; Cultural Pluralism; Data collection; Delivery Systems; Domestic violence; Family Violence; Human Services; Knowledge Level; Methodology (Data Collection); Methods Research; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Nurses; Qualitative Research; Research methodology; Sharing Behavior; Social Anthropology; Statistical Analysis; Victims; Workers; World Views; domestic violence; cultural consensus analysis; cultural models; human service providers
• ISSN: 1558-6898; 1558-6901
• DOI: 10.1177/1558689808322766

This study uses mixed methods and theory from cognitive anthropology to examine the cultural models of domestic violence among domestic violence agency workers, welfare workers, nurses, and a general population comparison group. Data collection and analysis uses quantitative and qualitative techniques, and the findings are integrated for interpretation. Findings reveal consensus among service providers on how controllable domestic violence factors are and whether they are most characteristic of victims or perpetrators, but diversity with regard to their understandings of the importance of the factors suggesting that occupational category alone is inadequate in predicting service providers' beliefs and subsequent delivery of services. The implications of the findings extend into the areas of domestic violence service delivery, cognitive anthropology, and mixed methods research.