Dilemmas about ‘Taking Responsibility’ and Cultural Accountability in Working with Men Who Have Abused Their Female Partners— Chris Chapman

In this paper, Chris Chapman describes two incidents from his work with men who had abused their female partners in which he inadvertently perpetrated cultural dominance. In one of these incidents, his ‘knowledge’ of the other man’s culture eventually allows him to recognise the cultural dominance; in the other, his ‘knowledge’ of the other man’s culture actively facilitates the cultural dominance. Chris reflects on these incidents in an attempt to reflexively problematise notions of cultural competency and individualistic notions of responsibility.