Article Review
The issue identified is Domestic dispute (Divorced parents and Child care). The article identified discusses a special Issue: Culture and Trauma and was written by Mattar, Drozdek, and Figley. According to the authors, a lot of studies in the field of trauma emphasized randomized controlled trials and evidence-based treatment and overlooked the cultural context (Mattar, Drozdek, & Figley, 2010). Because of this, they attempted to explore the relationship between cultural factors and traumatic reactions and offer some insights into the existing processes and progress in the field of trauma.
The article attempts to address cultural responsiveness, particularly in trauma research, education and practice. In this case, the authors have assessed collective healing from trauma (Mattar, Drozdek, & Figley, 2010). The authors discussed some approaches of collective healing, the role of memory and reconciliation, and finally, the way the ways people handle the truth.
The article focuses on culturally responsive research particularly on the way trauma is studied. Importantly, the article has assessed treatment approaches to ascertain whether they are culturally sensitive. The article touches on three different approaches of treatment which include cognitive-behavioral, supportive and psychodynamic treatments.
According to the authors, in this model of treatment, group psychotherapy is used together with other nonverbal therapies such as art therapy, music therapy, and psychomotor body therapy, not forgetting medication and individual support sessions (Mattar, Drozdek, & Figley, 2010). In the end, the authors conclude that having a clear understanding of the diverse ways of handling trauma is important for the delivery of treatment services that are culturally responsive.
The Relevance of Culture and the article to Domestic dispute
The domestic dispute, in this case, would be disputed parentage. In situations where parents are separated, there is the likelihood of children going through many challenges including trauma. Most importantly, the problem is usually based around child care (Reid & Scharam, 2012). This information is usually hard to come by as parents and children do not like revealing the challenging experiences they are going through. Worse still, in the context of diverse communities, reaching out through professional approaches would be hard ( Pauleen, 2007). For instance, there would be a need to talk to them in the language they understand, make them heal from trauma, and lastly make them feel part and parcel of their community. Thereafter through continuous integration, ask them if they would like to consider taking legal action.
Therefore, successful strategies in such a case are generally pegged on community development norms of working with the gatekeepers in the community and culturally or multicultural specific services in order to be acquainted with their diversity and cultural needs, and most importantly building partnerships that develop responses that are appropriate ( Klein, 2005). Therefore, the importance of culture to the dispute is basically to help build partnerships that are crucial to solving the issue at hand.
The importance of the article is that it gives insights relating to the integration of cultural-based approaches with professional approaches in a way that is appropriate to solving the domestic dispute (American Psychological Association, 2009).
For instance, children of separated parents are likely to suffer from depression and trauma. The article talks about the best ways to alleviate trauma by simply applying different treatment approaches such as cognitive-behavioral (CBT), supportive and psychodynamic treatments (Trujillo, 2008). In fact, these treatment approaches are not stand-alone approaches as they are applied together with other nonverbal therapies such as art therapy, music therapy, and psychomotor body therapy. Other approaches include medication and individual support sessions.
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Klein, R. (2005). Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Family Violence (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Mattar, S., Drozdek, B., & Figley, C. (2010). Introduction to a Special Issue: Culture and Trauma. Traumatology, 16(4), 1-4.
Pauleen, D. (2007). Cross-cultural perspectives on knowledge management (9th ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Libraries unlimited.
Reid, M., & Scharam, B. (2012). An Introduction To Human Services: Policy and Practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Trujillo, M. A. (2008). Re-centering culture and knowledge in conflict resolution practice (5th ed.). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.