Establishing Cultural Relevance Within Program Evaluation: Using Life-History Interviews to Contextualize the Impact of a Domestic Violence Diversion Program in the Eastern Caribbean

Abstract

Domestic violence is a global public health challenge that inflicts trauma upon victims and survivors, often resulting in mental illness and other forms of psychological distress throughout an individual’s life course. To date, there have been a plethora of punitive and diversion programs that address domestic violence worldwide. However, evaluative research of such programs overwhelmingly reflects studies in developed countries. The best practices of domestic violence programs in developing countries are severely underreported in published studies. This case study is an evaluation of a theory-driven domestic violence intervention program in the context of the Eastern Caribbean. Life-history interviews were one of the qualitative methods used within the evaluation of the United Nations Women’s Partnership for Peace Program in Grenada. The Partnership for Peace Program promotes Caribbean women’s human rights within a domestic violence diversion program that ensures perpetrators are held accountable for violence against their partners and families. Since 2005, Partnership for Peace Program has been the only court-based intervention in the Eastern Caribbean (Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, and St. Lucia) that allows adjudicated male perpetrators of domestic violence to voluntarily enroll in a controlled cohort cycle psycho-educational program as part of their court agreement. This case study reflects the use of life-history interviews as a method to measure the program’s impact among male participants and their associated partners. Their stories provide valuable insights into how the Partnership for Peace Program intervention addresses domestic violence in the Eastern Caribbean.

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