Etiony Aldarondo

Sociocultural status and incidence of marital violence in Hispanic families.

It is not clear whether traditional cultural ideology influences wife assaults in Hispanic-American families, or if culture is confounded with the stresses of poverty, unemployment, and immigration status. Our 1992 study of 1,970 families, including a national oversample of Hispanic families, examines the incidence of marital violence in the three major Hispanic-American subgroups and in Anglo-American families, and considers how sociocultural status and attitudes towards violence affect wife assaults differentially. The findings show that Hispanic Americans, as a whole, do not differ significantly from Anglo Americans in their odds of wife assaults when norms regarding violence approval, age, and economic stressors are held constant At the same time, considerable heterogeneity was apparent among ethnic subgroups on a number of measures. We also found that being born in the United States increases the risk of wife assaults by Mexican- and Puerto Rican-American husbands. However, the presence of norms sanctioning wife assaults within any group, regardless of socioeconomic status, is a risk factor for wife abuse.

A Risk Marker Analysis of Wife Assault in Latino Families

This study used national survey data to assess the utility of commonly recognized risk markers for wife assault to predict violence against women in various ethnic groups of Latino families (i.e., Mexican, Mexican American, Puerto Rican). The authors identified various combinations of factors affecting violence risk within different ethnic groups. Level of conflict emerged as the strongest and most stable factor across ethnic group and gender of respondent. Generic risk markers did not adequately account for the observed between-group variability. The results highlight the need to investigate both generic and culture-specific variables associated with an increased risk for wife assault.

The role of insecure attachment and gender role stress in predicting controlling behaviors in men who batter

The authors hypothesized that masculine gender role stress would mediate the relationship between insecure attachment and controlling behaviors in a sample of men who batter. To examine this hypothesis,143men who were court mandated to attenda batterers’ intervention program in a northeastern state completed measures including the Controlling Behavior Index, the Gender Role Stress Scale, the Relationship Questionnaire, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. After controlling statistically for social desirability, results indicated that both fearful attachment and gender role stress significantly predicted controlling behaviors, with gender role stress partially mediating the relationship between fearful attachment and controlling behaviors. The discussion focuses on the importance of understanding partner abuse through a gendered context.

Promoting the Well-Being of Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors

The presence of undocumented unaccompanied Latino immigrant children and youth in our communities poses a formidable challenge for this nation. This chapter highlights the plight of unaccompanied migrant minors (UIM) in the United States and around the world, what we know about their mental health and resiliency, and the government’s response to this issue; it also discusses the creation and evolution of an innovative community–university partnership designed to promote the human rights and well-being of UIMs in South Florida. Throughout this discussion, the authors urge readers to consider opportunities for infrastructure building at the community level, and the important role of local and federal governmental responses in the provision of specialized services for this population.

Domestic Violence: What Every Multicultural Clinician Should Know

Domestic violence (DV) is a social reality affecting the lives of millions of Americans across gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and cultural backgrounds. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (National intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report, 2010) found that approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men living in the USA experience physical abuse by their intimate partners every year. Domestic violence results in nearly 2.0 million injuries and 1,300 deaths every year (Chronister & Aldarondo, 2012). Death and injuries are only two of the many consequences of domestic violence, albeit the most serious. Given the extent and severity of its impact, it is essential for clinicians to gain knowledge about a variety of issues related to domestic violence.

“They Were Going to Kill Me”: Resilience in Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors

Unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant minors (UUIM) have become the focus of increased attention. Unfortunately, public discourse is often decontextualized, simplistic, and polarized. Empirical literature fails to capture the experiences of UUIM and identify strategies to promote their well-being. In this article we begin to address these gaps through qualitative inquiry. We analyzed written narratives of 292 Latino UUIM using a theoretical thematic analysis. Participants described motives for, and experiences of, the migration process. Guided by Ungar et al.’s (2007) conceptualization of resilience, five subthemes emerged: access to material resources, relationships, identity and cohesion, social justice, and perilous journey. The results from our study highlight (a) the youth’s difficult and often traumatic experiences in their homeland, (b) the factors that made migrating to the United States appealing to them, and (c) the dangerous journey they experienced. Implications for practice, research, and advocacy are discussed.