ABSTRACT WITHIN AND BEYOND THE SCHOOL WALLS: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOLING by Elizabeth Joan Cardenas Domestic violence complemented by gendered inequalities impact both women and children. Research shows that although domestic violence is a global, prevalent social phenomenon which transcends class, race, and educational levels, this social monster and its impact have been relatively ignored in the realm of schooling. In this study, I problematize the issue of domestic violence by interrogating: How do the family and folk culture educate/miseducate children and adults about their gendered roles and responsibilities? How do schools reinforce the education/miseducation of these gendered roles and responsibilities? What can we learn about the effects of this education/ miseducation? What can schools do differently to bridge the gap between children and families who are exposed to domestic violence? This study introduces CAREPraxis as a possible framework for schools to implement an emancipatory reform. CAREPraxis calls for a re/definition of school leadership, home-school relationship, community involvement, and curriculum in order to improve the deficiency of relationality and criticality skills identified from the data sources on the issue of domestic violence. This study is etiological as well as political and is grounded in critical theory, particularly postcolonial theory and black women’s discourses, to explore the themes of representation, power, resistance, agency and identity. I interviewed six women, between ages 20 and 50, who were living or have lived in abusive relationships for two or more years. The two major questions asked were: What was it like when you were growing up? What have been your experiences with your intimate male partner with whom you live/lived. The data from the personal and reconstructed narratives of Belizean women were employed to (1) understand the lived experiences of women who have been battered, (2) unearth historical and cultural continuities, and (3) illuminate the complexity surrounding this social issue of domestic violence. WITHIN AND BEYOND THE SCHOOL WALLS: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOLING A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Educational Leadership by Elizabeth J. Cardenas Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2003 Dissertation Director: Sally Lloyd © Elizabeth J. Cardenas 2003 CONTENTS Dedication Acknowledgements SECTION 1: 1 SETTING THE STAGE TO PROBLEMATIZE VIOLENT LEGACIES Introduction 2 Belize: Changes and challenges 2 The need for the study: In the shadows, under the covers 7 School re/form: Catch ‘em young 13 Within and beyond the school walls: Theoretical Frameworks 16 My odyssey 19 Overview of chapters 25 Chapter One: Seeking Support : Theoretical framework 28 Traditions of critical theory 28 Colonial/postcolonial discourses 30 Feminist discourses 33 Black women’s discourses: AfriKanA wo-fem-isms 36 AfriKanA wo-fem-isms: Re/claiming, re/naming, re/defining Afrikananess 41 iii Themes: Power, identity, resistance, agency, representation 45 Power 45 Identity 49 Resistance and agency 57 Representation 59 Back and forth 66 Chapter Two: How to get there: Method/ology 68 Purpose and significance 70 Research design 72 Narratology and reflexivity 74 Data collection 77 Data analysis 84 Back and Forth 85 SECTION 2: CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET 87 Chapter Three: The monster: Discourse of domestic violence 88 Patriarchy 93 Predator’s Prey: Domestic violence in Belize 96 Across the miles: A trans-cultural perspective 100 Back and Forth 103 iv Chapter Four: Reflexivity: Researcher’s Positionality 104 Playing House: From fantasy to reality 106 Family Life: “Bembeh” transcending boundaries 124 Playing school 128 Womanish and brazen 129 Professional life: Trials and Triumphs 130 Back and Forth 138 Chapter Five: Living with the monster: Survivors’ narratives 140 The journey begins: Incarcerated secrets 142 First participant 147 Fina’s story: Thorn and torn… 151 Second participant 159 Maeti’s Story: Sword and shield… 162 Third participant 170 Donay’s story: Regret and reform… 170 Fourth participant 175 Eida’s story: Mistrust and mask… 176 Back and forth 184 v Chapter Six: Re/living their trauma: Reconstructed women’s 183 narratives 185 Lisa’s experiences 189 Marina’s experiences 191 Tomasa’s experiences 192 Back and forth Chapter Seven: ‘From the Dock”: Nora’s story recreated 193 A child’s perspective 193 The Belize Billboard’s perspective 194 “Nora makes statement from the dock” 198 Death sentence 202 Plea for Nora 203 Executed 205 Domestic violence ripping families apart 206 Back and forth 207 vi SECTION 3: LOOKING UNDER THE MICROSCOPE 208 Chapter Eight: Power over: Walking in a man’s shadow 211 Cruelty to the woman you love 212 “Woman hating” 214 Why not leave 217 Women as accomplices in their assassination 220 Back and Forth 224 Chapter Nine: End/gendered indoctrination: Belizean cultural myths 226 Folk stories 227 Folk songs 235 Maya folklore 237 East Indian folklore 238 Femininity: Tainted representations 240 Back and forth 242 Chapter Ten: Power to: Women as victors, resistors and agents 243 Women make choices 244 Power to retaliate 244 Sour honey: Cycle of violence 247 vii Fighting the oppressive system 248 Back and forth 251 Chapter Eleven: Reaping what we sow: “Bud” family relationships 253 Un/healthy social-emotional relationship 253 Child abuse 254 Be careful what we say and do 256 Mother-daughter relationship 260 Blended and extended families 261 Learning from Nora and Ketchell 262 Back and forth 265 Chapter Twelve: The drama of domestic violence: From rip to R.I.P. 267 268 Catastrophic climax 271 Domestic violence: “The shadow of the whip” 272 “A little something on his stick” 275 Rape: Weapon of dominance and repression 279 Rip →→ →→R.I.P. 282 Back and forth viii SECTION 4: 284 BUILDING BRIDGES: VIOLENT LEGACIES Chapter Thirteen: If the present looks like the past: Domestic violence 286 Domestic violence against women 289 Mis/education/misinterpretation: Religious re/production 292 Legal impenetrability: Patriarchal posterity 299 There is hope: Educating females and males to share the centre 301 Back and forth 304 Chapter Fourteen: If the past looks like Colonial violence 306 Discourse of violence 308 Colonial violence: Relational dynamics between colonizers and colonized 314 “The white signmaker” 314 “The gate of no return” 319 Dominant deplorable conditions 323 Mutilation and alienation 326 Economic dispossession and dependency 329 Voiceless non-citizens 332 Devaluation of “Other” languages 333 Mis/education to colonize the mind 336 ix Chapter Fifteen: Colonial violence against women: Desensitizing, 341 domesticating, destructive strategies 341 Women’s invisibility 342 Gender bias and anti-family bonding 346 Scared and “scarred” Chapter Sixteen: “Dismantling that old authority” 355 Slaves’ responses: Resistance and rebellion 355 Indigene violence: A replica of black and white squares 357 Consciousness raising 359 Shifting consciousness: Transforming the infirmities of colonialism 359 Back and forth 363 Conclusions: Sections 1-4 365 Power: Un/normalizing stereotypes 365 Deepened consciousness 366 x SECTION 5: 371 REVELATION AND GENESIS: MISEDUCATION/ MISSINGEDUCATION Chapter Seventeen: Revelations: What’s written on the cultural wall 372 How does the family and folkculture educate/miseducate 376 What can we learn… 376 Chapter Eighteen: How do schools reinforce the education/ 379 miseducation Implications to bridge the gap 384 What’s there, what else 384 O/mission in school life 388 Chapter Nineteen: Genesis: Possibility and hope 396 CAREPraxis: A healthier diet 398 Envisioning a different destiny 404 Basic building blocks for CAREPraxis 406 Critical literacy: An example 411 Danger zone: Teaching innocently is a sin 416 Fairy Tales 418 Supplements for the relationality-criticality diet 425 xi Conclusion 428 Future research 429 Echoing women’s voices 431 Researcher’s responsibility: Tackling language, theoretical framework, 432 problematizing the issue Women: Looking forward to something worthwhile 435 Bibliography 439 Appendices 468 Appendix A: Letter to social agencies 468 Appendix B: Information for agencies to distribute to battered women 469 Appendix C: Consent form for participants 470 Appendix D: Translated summary of Maeti’s narrative 471 Appendix E: Translated summary of Donay’s narrative 472 Appendix F: Translation of folk stories 473 Appendix G: Translation of folk songs 474 Appendix H: Resources for implementing CAREPraxis 475 xii DEDICATION My dearest husband Dedicated to the circle of four Patch men in my life who know what it Hans means to care and be cared for. Dwane In the memory of Ethlyn “Nan” Brendan Williams, my grandmother, a single mother who modelled CARE — courage, appreciation, responsibility and endurance. ♥♥♥♥♥ and three wonderful sons xiii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This journey is a culmination of the academic foundation laid over many years by my elementary and secondary school teachers, lecturers at the Belize Teachers Training College, and the instructors at the University College of Belize. The success of my dissertation and doctorate degree has been birthed because of all those who encouraged me to “Press On” over the last six years. The time has come for me to bow and show my appreciation; however, I find it impossible to name and adequately give credit to the copious persons who directly or indirectly contributed to my academic and professional success and development. My sincerest gratitude to all those who “walked” and worked with me, and special acclamations to the following: ♥ To my precious Lord who walked with me all the way and at all times. At times when the human side of me felt deserted, He reminded me that He would do what I have asked because He is pleased with me, and know me by name… At the same time, the words from my Footprints poster comforted me because my Fortitude, Rock, Strength, Light and Creator said to me,“ My [daughter] I love you and I will never leave you. During your time of sadness and suffering when you see only one set of footprints.