The Wyoming Division of Victim Services has contracted with the JCVVS to offer its nationally recognized program Critical Analysis of Victim Assistance in March. This intensive program challenges participants to explore and analyze the practices, policies and societal responses regarding victimization. An optional "Professional Certificate in Victim Assistance: Critical Analysis" is offered for those who wish to further advance their analysis of issues and to share their exploration with the field. For further information about the course and about contract courses through the JCVVS, visit the web site or contact Thomas Underwood at (785) 670-1242.

The JCVVS encourages attendance at the American Symposium on Victimology scheduled March 5-7, 2008 at Fresno Pacific University. In addition to plenary presenters Paul Friday, Jeffrey Sedgwick, and Sarah Buel, an array of other workshops and posters will be featured. Some of the presentation topics include Role Reversal and Aggression of Women in Intimate Partner Violence, Victims of Child Abuse as a Result of Substance Abuse, and Victim Participation in Mediation. For complete information about the symposium and to register, visit the ASV web site at http://www.american-society- victimology.us/events/asv_2008/index.html

JCVVS e-newsletter reviews offer a brief synopsis of research and programs relevant to violence and victim studies. Brevity does not allow for comprehensive analysis, rather key points and observations for further review and consideration. Reviews are provided by persons affiliated by the JCVVS and do not necessarily reflect the position of the JCVVS or the affiliate Universities.

Author(s): Parrado, E. A. and Flippen, C. A

Title: Migration and Gender Among Mexican Women

Source: American Sociological Review, 70, 606- 632.

Reviewed by: Brian Ogawa

Intimate partner violence can be determined through the prevailing elements of power and control, pattern of behavior, degree of personal choice, and rigidity of roles. Domination of one person over the other, use of coercion and force, absence of autonomy, and imposed oppressive tasks create and evidence domestic abuse. When racial and ethnic themes interpose family relationship dynamics, understanding the situation of women who are battered should not be approached simplistically. Parrado and Flippen, two Duke University researchers, conducted a qualitative (community- based participatory research-CBPR) and quantitative (highly structured and ethnographic surveys) study of immigrant Mexican women in Durham, North Carolina and nonimmigrant women in four sending communities in Mexico. Although their research was not primarily intended to enlighten how victim service providers can better serve immigrant Mexican women, it presents some valuable information to become more culturally competent to do so.

Parrado and Flippen posit that migration is a powerful catalyst for social change. This applies also to gender relationships and the possibility that the more male- centered authoritarian family practices in Mexico might alter once relocation to the United States occurs. Migration can be viewed as a "liberalizing" experience that empowers women by providing greater chances for employment, exposure to more egalitarian gender norms, and new awareness of individual rights and protective laws. The main finding of the Parrado and Flippen study, however, is that the association of gender and migration is not uniform, and that some aspects from communities of origin are indeed discarded but others are modified, and still others are reinforced. Immigrant women do not readily (nor should they necessarily be expected or required to) incorporate the behavioral and cultural values of the United States. There is often an "accommodation without assimilation," whereby components of the dominant culture are appropriated whenever useful but other traditional practices and values are closely maintained. Victim service providers must therefore never presume cultural homogeneity among served populations, or adopt a deification of one generalized culture at the expense of another. We must instead search for the specific interplay of socio-economic characteristics, including gender imbalance, which influence family health within any cultural setting.

The theory of gender and power has three critical domains: labor, power, and cathexis (attachment of emotional feelings and significance to an idea, object, or person). Mexican women certainly benefit from migration in some areas of gender inequality, but in other cases male hegemony may be heightened within the household. For immigrant women, precarious legal status, disrupted social networks of support, and lack of employment prospects could result in greater vulnerability, dependency, and isolation-all potential variables for spousal abuse. Parrado and Flippen found, for example, that in Mexico women's power increases and more egalitarian gender attitudes exist when women have regular contact with friends. Men participate more in daily household chores and women more in decision- making on financial matters. Immigrant women, however, may experience the reverse as heavy reliance on family in a "threatening" social environment adds to women's domestic responsibilities and entrenches more traditional family values. It is obvious that for many immigrants, undocumented and legal, the United States is an unwelcoming and even hostile place. The commensurate fear and uncertainty jeopardize the well-being of immigrant women, and fosters the reluctance to seek vital social services and victim support.

email: jcvvs@washburn.edu

phone: 785-670-1399

web: http://www.washburn.edu/ce/jcvvs/