Encouraging conversations

about culture: supporting

culturally responsive FDR

Dr Susan Armstrong, UWS

Nihal Danis, Bankstown FRC

National Mediation Conference

11-13 September 2012

Acknowledging country

I pay respect to the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation,

the traditional custodians of the land on which we

gather; to their elders past, present and future; and to

other Aboriginal people here today.

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Outline

• Context

• Research findings

• Application

• Nihal Danis, Manager, Bankstown FRC

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Context • Research project initiated by Anglicare

and CatholicCare Sydney

– Consortium between UWS & Bankstown and

Parramatta FRCs western Sydney 2008

• Research focused on culturally diverse

communities in western Sydney

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Research Questions

1. What can FRCs do to enhance access for

people from culturally diverse backgrounds?

2. What is culturally responsive FDR and what can

FRCs and FDR practitioners do to promote it?

3. What would support FDR professionals to

sustain culturally responsive FDR service?

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Culturally responsive FDR?

• Organisational and individual capacity to:

– Acknowledge own cultural contexts

– Recognise how culture influences FDR

– Respond appropriately to each client’s cultural

contexts

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Process • Quantitative (219) & qualitative (21)

– 70% FDRPs / managers

– 56% FRCs

– 17% Legal Aid Commissions (LAC)

– 47% social science qualifications

– 19% speak language other than English home

– 79% female

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Attitude to culturally responsive FDR

FDR professional felt less confident

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Less confident

• Administrative officers

– identifying own cultural influences & responding

to culture in FDR processes

• FDR < one year

– confident assisting CALD clients, managing

cultural power imbalances, adapting FDR

processes, responding to DV CALD clients;

• LAC

– communicating, identifying & responding to

culture in FDR processes

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Organisation:

poor

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Differences

• LAC less likely to agree

– adequately resourced to engage CALD

communities;

– developed mutual referral processes with local

CALD communities & religious leaders/services.

• FRCs more likely to agree than private FDR

– cultural awareness training was provided;

• Private FDR services more likely to agree

– developed protocols to involve extended family

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What would support

professionals to provide

responsive FDR?

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Factors

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PD activities

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Abilities

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Understandings

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Conversations about culture

• mindful dialogue with clients: compassion,

humility, curiosity

• conversations with self: self awareness

• collaborative reflection: deliberate, guided,

service specific, embedded in service routine

• genuine engagement: CALD communities

– sustain relationships, mutual listening, dialogue 18

Implications: FDR funders

• Review the purposes, complexities and

challenges of community engagement and

fund FDR services appropriately

• Support the development of collaborative

reflective professional learning about culture,

especially service-specific resources

• Identify ways to optimise CALD participation in

post separation parenting programs

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Implications: FDR services

• Evaluate organisational capacity, commitment

& needs to be culturally competent

• Develop protocols to respond to cultural context

• Foster relationships CALD & faith communities

– Appoint cultural liaison to facilitate

• Enhance cultural competence

– Embed service-specific collaborative learning

processes re culture

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Implications: FDRPs

• Build capacity to recognise, explore and

respond to culture in FDR & thus promote

party control over process

• Help parents support child’s right enjoy culture

• Make culture integral to your practice

– Explore client cultural context & significance

– Engage in regular, structured, service-specific

collaborative learning processes re culture

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Reflect on your

cultural influences

• What assumptions did I make about this particular client

and her or his culture?

• In what ways did I assume we were similar and different

because of our cultural backgrounds?

• What aspects of my own beliefs, values, or worldview were

challenged or in conflict in my work with the client?

• What were my initial conclusions about the impact of

culture on the client's presenting concerns?

• How sure am I of the accuracy of those conclusions? How

open am I to considering new information and modifying

those assumptions? 22

Resources • Collins S, Arthur N, and Wong-Wylie G (2010) Enhancing

Reflective Practice in Multicultural Counseling Through

Cultural Auditing. Journal of Counseling and Development

88 (Summer): 340-347.

• Education Centre Against Violence and Australian

Government Department of Health and Ageing (2006)

Cultural competence in working with suicidality and

interpersonal trauma. ECAV, Sydney [CD Rom].

• Commonwealth Attorney General (2011) AVERT Family

Violence: Collaborative Responses in the Family Law

System. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra - Diversity

Encouraging conversations

about culture – An FRC

Response

Nihal Danis, Manager, Bankstown FRC

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Understanding Sue’s findings: • less experienced FDR professionals …. less confidence

responding to cultural contexts

• confidence with referral processes with CALD or faith

communities

• Administrative officers less likely to agree they felt culturally

responsive , less likely to agree it was important to be

culturally responsive and more resistant to develop their

capacity to be more culturally responsive

• FDR professionals working for more than 5 yrs less likely to

agree to professional development activities and resources

to enhance their cultural responsiveness

How do we “foster the skills and

understandings needed to normalise the

consideration of culture as part of every

FDR process”?

• CALD employees – 3 Arabic, a Turkish, a

Vietnamese & Cantonese speaking staff

• Collaboration with community organisations

• Discussions around cultural a regular

occurrence

How can learning about culture be facilitated

in the FDR professional context?

A Case Study:

• A young Pakistani couple with one child, female under 4

• Court ordered mediation to sort out their communication

• Current Court orders in place

• Strong cultural and faith presentation

• Been in Australia only for 5 years

• Bewildered by the family law system

FDRP Response

• Understanding complexity and commonality

• Having dialogue and self awareness

• Maintaining reflective collaboration

FRC Response Opportunities

• For ongoing discussion about culture

• Community engagement

• Training and professional development

• Auditing current practice and procedure

• Auditing current resources

• Linking research into VADCAS Initiatives

References

• Armstrong Susan, Encouraging Conversations about Culture: Supporting Culturally Responsive Family Dispute

Resolution (Anglicare and CatholicCare, Sydney, 2012)

• Armstrong Susan, Encouraging conversations about culture: supporting culturally responsive family dispute

resolution (2011) 17(3) Journal of Family Studies 233-248

• Armstrong Susan, Culturally responsive family dispute resolution in Family Relationship Centres: Access and

practice (CatholicCare and Anglicare, Sydney, 2010)

• Armstrong Susan, Enhancing Access to Family Dispute Resolution for Families from Culturally and

Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (2010) 18 Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse Briefing 1

• Armstrong Susan, Accommodating culture in family dispute resolution: what, why and how? (2011) 20 Journal

of Judicial Administration 167

• Armstrong Susan, Developing culturally reflexive practice in family dispute resolution (2011) 22 Australasian

Dispute Resolution Journal 30

• Brigg Morgan, The New Politics of Conflict Resolution: Responding to Difference (Palgrave Macmillan,

Houndmills, Basingstoke, UK, 2009)

• Brigg M & Muller K, Conceptualising Culture in Conflict Resolution (2009) 30 Journal of Intercultural Studies

121-140.

• Chew Amber, Judicial consideration of culture in child-related proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975

(Cth) (2007) 21 Australian Journal of Family Law 173-201

• LeBaron M and Pillay V Conflict, Culture and Images of Change. In M LeBaron and V Pillay V, Conflict Across

Cultures (Intercultural Press, Boston, 2006) .

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