Prevention of Domestic Violence in Immigrant Faith-Based Communities: The Multiple Dimensions of a Culturally Competent Model

This paper examines the multiple dimensions of cultural competence through a case study documenting the development of an innovative 10-week Bible study curriculum addressing domestic violence within Korean-American immigrant communities. The decade long unfolding of this immigrant faith-based domestic violence prevention initiative reveals many factors that emerge prominently in efforts to meaningfully engage faith communities in a process of social change. It also demonstrates how culture is constructed through intersecting dynamics including more conventional notions of ethnic-specific social norms, religious adaptation, the structure of community organizations and social change forces such as feminism and liberation theology. This initiative adopts a prevention and intervention framework based upon community capacity building thereby demonstrating complex processes of community engagement including the importance of participatory evaluation in developing cultural competent practices. This project which is currently supported through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Strengthening What Works Initiative, expands current public health discussions regarding primary and secondary violence prevention and cultural competence in immigrant communities.