Abstract
Domestic violence (DV) represents a significant public health concern in the United States, including among Latinx populations. Despite the negative consequences associated with experiencing DV, research has shown that Latinx DV survivors may be less likely than others to utilize important services. One potential barrier is cultural competence (CC) in the provision of services specific to Latinx survivors among DV organizations. Thus, a beneficial addition to the field of DV service provision for such survivors is a better understanding and measurement of CC for this unique population. The exploratory, cross-sectional study herein presents the development and evaluation of a novel instrument for measuring the CC of DV organizations. Exploratory factor analysis was used on a purposive sample of 76 organizations in North Carolina who completed a comprehensive survey on their characteristics, practices, norms, and values. Psychometric results found best support for a 29-item, 4-factor bifactor model with both a general CC factor as well as three sub-factors. The general scale was named “General Cultural Competence,” while the three sub-scales were named “Organizational Values and Procedures,” “Latinx Knowledge and Inclusion,” and “Latinx DV Knowledge.” The final measure also demonstrated convergent validity with key organizational characteristics. Overall, higher CC scores were associated with organizations having more DV services in Spanish, a higher percentage of staff attending CC training, a higher percentage of staff attending Latinx service provision training, and a medium or greater presence in the Latinx community, and a moderate or stronger relationship with the Latinx community. The development of this measure is particularly useful in addressing knowledge gaps regarding the measurement of CC for Latinx DV services. Implications have importance for both the measurement of organizational CC and the scope of the measure’s associations with organizational, provider, and client outcomes.
Highlights
The phenomenon of physical violence, psychological aggression, sexual violence, and stalking perpetrated by an intimate partner represents a significant public health concern in the United States (U.S.) (Smith et al, 2018)
In addition to addressing a knowledge gap regarding the measurement of CC for Latinx domestic violence (DV) service provision, the current study contributes to the limited psychometric testing of instruments for measuring organizational CC (Zeitlin Schudrich, 2014)
The current study contributes to the growing literature on organizational CC by developing and evaluating a preliminary measure tailored to organizational CC in the context of Latinx DV service provision in the United States
Summary
The phenomenon of physical violence, psychological aggression, sexual violence, and stalking perpetrated by an intimate partner represents a significant public health concern in the United States (U.S.) (Smith et al, 2018). In addition to immediate needs related to safety, research has found that DV victimization can lead to physical and mental health problems (Bacchus et al, 2018; Campbell, 2002; Devries et al, 2013; Lagdon et al, 2014) and economic/ housing instability (Adams et al, 2012; Pavao et al, 2007) among other concerns Compared to their male counterparts, female survivors tend to suffer more serious consequences and are more likely to seek DV-related services (Ansara & Hindin, 2010; D’Inverno et al, 2019)
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