Stopping Domestic Violence in Indian Country

• NCJ Number: 207088
• Journal: Police Chief Volume: 71 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2004 Pages: 53-56
• Author(s): Sondra Leftoff Ph.D.
• Date Published: August 2004
• Length: 3 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the McKinley County Sheriff's Department's (New Mexico) domestic violence program for Navajo communities, which brings police and community members together to help families resolve the problem of domestic violence.

Abstract

The McKinley County program brings Navajo elders to the county sheriff's department to work with either the offender or the victim of domestic violence in a multisession format. These elders, who also serve as peacemakers in the Navajo Nation Peacemaker Court, bring their traditional knowledge and experience in resolving conflicts through peacemaking to the intervention program. The program involves one-on-one counseling and group work with disputants. Individual sessions focus on private discussions with each individual regarding the domestic conflict. In these sessions, elders teach traditional values of the Navajo culture, acting as mentors in a program that features a series of steps. The general peacemaking session follows the individual sessions. The program emphasizes the role of the community in maintaining individual outcomes and restoring relationships. The program lasts between 3 and 4 months, and the relationship with an elder may be longer. The program was launched through a $25,000 grant to the Sheriff's Department from the New Mexico Indian Behavioral Health Council. Sergeant Albert Benally, the deputy sheriff who established the program, was awarded the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Police Officer of the Year for Indian Country. The award ceremony, which took place during the IACP conference in Philadelphia, gave the program national exposure and stimulated interest among other law enforcement agencies that are policing domestic violence in Indian Country, where neither reservation police nor Federal officials have been successful in reversing an escalation in the number of domestic violence cases.