Preventing interpersonal violence in Panama is a

Authors: Anilena Mejia Fiona Ulph Rachel Calam

Publish Date: 2016/08/30

Volume: 61, Issue: 8, Pages: 915-922

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Abstract

Three themes emerged cultural context appropriateness of the intervention and development of support networks In terms of cultural context parents described economic difficulties living in a dangerous world struggling to balance parenting and work and using aggressive communication patterns In terms of appropriateness of the intervention they rated materials as appropriate although suggested modifications to its delivery by including children and teachers in the training Finally parents commented that the intervention prompted the development of social networks within their communitiesOverall parents considered a transported parenting intervention as appropriate to their local needs This study might be useful to local governments and international funders in charge of deciding whether transporting parenting interventions North to South as a strategy for violence prevention would be respectful of local needs Our findings cannot be generalized beyond Panama but the methodology can be replicated to answer this question in other settingsInterpersonal violence ie youth gang violence intimate partner violence child maltreatment and sexual violence is among the leading causes of death worldwide WHO 2014 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development suggests “promoting peaceful and inclusive societies provide access to justice for all and build effective accountable and inclusive institutional support at all levels” United Nations 2015 Thus there is an urgent need to prevent interpersonal violence universally inclusively in interdisciplinary teams and using evidencebased interventions that fit the reality of lowresource settings worldwideThere is growing evidence that safe stable and supportive parenting is essential for preventing interpersonal violence Stack et al 2010 Parenting interventions have been designed for reducing childhood aggression Kazdin 1997 and child maltreatment Lundahl et al 2006 However recent reviews suggest that most of these evidences originate in highincome countries Knerr et al 2013 Mejia et al 2012 with only one rigorous trial in an LMIC identified Cooper et al 2009 none assessing the cultural fit in the case of transported interventions and none conducted as a strategy for violence prevention In the context of a global violence prevention movement it is key to establish efficacy and appropriateness of interventions transported North to SouthIn 2009 the government of Panama funded a project for evaluating a transported evidencebased parenting intervention as a strategy to prevent interpersonal violence locally A partnership was developed with academics from the UK to explore the cultural fit and efficacy of one intervention from the Australian Triple P Positive Parenting Program Sanders 2012 Triple P is a system of interventions for parents of children at different developmental stages eg babies toddlers school age children and adolescents and with different levels of risk It uses social learning theory Bandura 1978 to help parents develop strategies for dealing with difficult behaviour in their children with the rationale of preventing child maltreatment and interpersonal violence later in life We chose Triple P from the list of recommended evidencebased parenting programs published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC 2009a because of previous evidence of effectiveness in different cultures eg Matsumoto et al 2007 However its particular fit to the lived reality of parents in Panama have not been systematically evaluated before Respecting and acknowledging local cultural values have been recognized as key in the delivery of services Bernal and DomenechRodriguez 2012

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