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Christianity and Domestic Violence : Feminist Poststructuralist Perspectives

Sarah Wendt Affilia 2008 23: 144 DOI: 10.1177/0886109908314326 The online version of this article can be found at: http://aff.sagepub.com/content/23/2/144

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Christianity and Domestic Violence

Feminist Poststructuralist Perspectives
Sarah Wendt
University of South Australia

Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work Volume 23 Number 2 May 2008 144-155 2008 Sage Publications 10.1177/0886109908314326 http://aff.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com

Research has shown that spiritual and religious identification plays a role in defining womens experiences of violence and therefore that social workers need to acknowledge and create safe spaces to talk about this identification. This article describes a rural Australian study that focused on the impact of a local culture on domestic violence, in which Christianity strongly influenced womens experiences of violence. It is argued that looking at womens experiences of domestic violence through a feminist poststructuralist lens is valuable because it provides a framework for exploring and sensitively challenging oppressive discourses that inform womens identities. Keywords: Christianity; domestic violence; feminism; poststructuralism

he resurgence of interest in spirituality and religion has led to an expanding body of social work publications in North America and the United Kingdom in these areas (Bowpitt, 2000; Cascio, 1998; Cornett, 1992; Furman, Benson, Grimwood, & Canda, 2004; Holloway, 2007). For example, Tangenberg (2003) pointed out that the encouragement of North American faith-based organizations to take greater responsibility for the provision of social services has challenged social workers to examine the tensions between secular and religious-based services. There has been growing interest in this topic in social work for a variety of reasons. First, religion and spirituality are recognized as being integral parts of living; second, there is a need to respond to ethnic and cultural minorities in Western societies (Hodge, 2003); third, religious-affiliated organizations have increasingly established roles in the provision of social services (Healy, 2005); and finally, recent criticism of materialism and individualism in Western societies has renewed interest in finding a deeper meaning in life (Furman et al., 2004; Healy, 2005; Lindsay, 2002; Payne, 2005; Zapf, 2005). Research in North America and Canada has also begun to acknowledge the spiritual and religious identities of women who experience domestic violence, with studies focusing on Christianity. For example, Bell, Busch, and Fowler (2005) investigated the roles and functions of spirituality in domestic violence work, how practitioners use spirituality in their work, and the impact of domestic violence work on practitioners spiritual beliefs. Others have explored processes of recovery and rebuilding among women who have experienced violence and how the womens spiritual and religious identities played a role in this process (Giesbrecht & Sevcik, 2000; Gillum, Sullivan, & Bybee, 2006). The perspectives and responses of Christian clergy to domestic violence have also been explored, with authors arguing that because the church is an important institution in the education and socialization of society, its clergy can play an important role in preventing or minimizing domestic violence (Shannon-Lewy & Dull, 2005; Strickland, Welshimer, & Sarvela, 1998). Some authors, such as Rogers (2003) and Beste (2005), have specifically argued that forms, patterns, and beliefs within Christianity can be challenged, altered, or
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Wendt / Christianity and Domestic Violence 145

transformed to aid in the healing process for women who have experienced violence and abuse by intimate partners. They have acknowledged that core doctrines play a major role in interpreting and shaping peoples understandings of the world and have pointed out that these doctrines have also been interpreted and used to justify or legitimate abuse. In contrast, the resurgence of interest in spirituality and social work is not obvious in the Australian context, with the exception of Lindsays (2002) book, Recognising Spirituality: The Interface Between Faith and Social Work, despite a similar shift in which human services are increasingly provided by nongovernmental welfare services, including many religious organizations (Healy, 2004, 2005). There has been no exploration of spirituality and religious identification and their impacts on womens experiences of domestic violence in Australia. However, there is a growing recognition of the significance of traditional spirituality to Indigenous people in Australia and experiences of family violence (Cheers et al., 2006). This article presents narratives on the effects of Christianity on domestic violence in an Australian rural context and raises questions for future research and social work practice about recognizing the spiritual needs of women in Australia who experience violence and abuse. It draws from a larger qualitative study that explored local cultural discourses in a rural community and how they influenced womens experiences and mens perpetration of domestic violence (Wendt, 2005; Wendt & Cheers, 2002, 2004). I acknowledge that the terms spirituality and religion are often used interchangeably and that definitions are complex. It is not my intention to enter the debates on these concepts, but to share stories to encourage a dialogue about the resurgence of interest in spirituality and religion in an Australian context. For the purpose of this article, religion is defined as a systematic body of beliefs and practices that are related to a spiritual search, such as organized practices and institutions for the expression of faith, and spirituality is defined as the search for meaning and purpose in life, that is, an understanding of ones place in the world (Healy, 2005). This does not mean that these terms are necessarily distinct from one another. In the study, women spoke about spirituality and religion as being interwoven. They often referred to their Christian denomination or their local parish church as the face of their religious identification, but they also spoke personally about their own meanings and understandings of their experiences. This article discusses Christianity because Christian ideology was dominant in the rural community in which the study was conducted. It is acknowledged, however, that there is diversity within Christianity and that inquiry into social work and spirituality is not exclusive to Christianity.

Method
The study was conducted in the Barossa Valley, one of Australias best-known viticultural and winemaking regions, in 200203. The Barossa Valley is located approximately 70 km (about 45 miles), or a 1-hr drive, northeast of Adelaide in South Australia. When one visits the Barossa Valley for the first time, one immediately notices the rows of grapevines and the dozens of wineries scattered throughout the region. The many high steeples of Lutheran churches, historic stone cottages, and quaint villages with tree-lined streets reflect the natural beauty of the area and the influence of generations of descendants of the German settlers who arrived there in the 19th century. The Barossa Valley encompasses several small towns with populations ranging from 500 to 3,700. The study aimed to formulate an understanding of local culture in rural communities and to identify how local culture affects womens experiences of and mens perpetration of

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146 Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work

Table 1 Characteristics of the Human Service Workers in the Study

Human Service Worker 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Occupation, Field Social work Pastor Pastor Social work Police Governmental department Social work Psychology Psychology Medical practitioner Youth work Pastor Length of Residence in the Region 14 years 12 years 6 years 18 years 2 years 12 years 17 years 6 years 41 years 25 years 6 years 38 years Gender Female Male Male Female Female Female Male Male Male Female Female Female

Table 2 Characteristics of the Women in the Study

Women 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Age Rangea 1830 1830 1830 1830 1830 1830 3140 3140 3140 3140 3140 3140 3140 3140 4150 4150 4150 4150 4150 5160 5160 Years of Residence in the Regionb 1830 1830 1120 510 1120 15 3140 510 3140 3140 3140 1120 1120 3140 4150 15 1120 1120 1120 5160 5160 Years in the Relationshipc Defacto 15 Defacto 15 Daughter Married 1120 Married 1120 Defacto 15 Daughter Married Defacto 15 Married 510 Married 510 Married 1120 Married 1120 Married 510 Married 2130 Defacto 15 Defacto 1120 Married 1120 Married 1120 Married 3140 Married 3140 In the Violent Relationship at the Time of the Interview Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No Yes No

a. Age range: 1830, 3140, 4150, or 5160. b. Length of residence (in years): 510, 1120, 2130, 3140, 4150, or 5160. c. Years in the relationship: 15, 510, 1120, 2130, 3140, 4150, or 5160.

domestic violence. It also aimed to contribute to the development of knowledge by extending the literature on feminist understandings of domestic violence in rural areas and to develop recommendations on how rural communities and human services can respond to domestic violence.

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Wendt / Christianity and Domestic Violence 147

To formulate understandings of local culture, I conducted semistructured face-to-face interviews with 18 key community informants and analyzed local texts (two local newspapers and two local tourist booklets). To identify how local culture influenced womens experiences and mens perpetration of domestic violence, I conducted semistructured face-to- face interviews with 12 human service workers and 21 women who had experienced violence. The narratives of human service workers and women are presented here (see Tables 1 and 2 for the characteristics of the workers and the women). Of the 21 women, 11 said that they were practicing Christians and therefore attended church and other church-related activities regularly, 4 said they were not practicing Christians and so did not attend church but did believe in Christian values and beliefs, 3 stated that they were not Christians but that spirituality was important to them, and 3 did not refer to religion or spirituality during the interviews. The methodology and analysis were informed by feminist poststructuralist understandings. There is much debate about the meshing of feminist thought and poststructuralist perspectives. However, it is not my intention to engage with those debates except to highlight that this study explored how masculinities, femininities, local culture, and domestic violence were constructed and operated in relation to each other. Feminist and poststructural thought provided the framework for exploring such complexity by looking at the meanings of local culture (values and beliefs) and domestic violence without ignoring the system of male power and privilege that are associated with patriarchal social relations (Ramazanoglu, 2002; Trinder, 2000). A feminist poststructuralist lens supports the view that the world of lived experience needs to be understood from the point of view of those who live it because meaning is socially constructed, that is, people in a particular place and time construct meaning through social interaction. Yet it also allows for the recognition of power relations between men and women in society because of social arrangements and structures that perpetuate patriarchy (Dominelli, 2002; Schwandt, 1998).

Local Culture
By analyzing texts and talking to key community informants, human service workers, and women, I found that certain discourses constituted this particular local culture. These discourses were self-reliance, pride, privacy, belonging and closeness, family, and Christianity. Narratives were told about the communitys success, producing high-quality products through persistence and dedication, the value of hard work, and being humbly proud of the communitys success. Concepts of gemeinschaft, intimacy, friendship, and caring for each other were described, and stories were told about security and familiarity within the community and people helping each other out in times of need. Christianity, specifically Lutheranism, and the family unit were presented as creating and maintaining the discourses of self-reliance, pride, belonging, and closeness. Christian beliefs were constructed as being the backbone of the community and as having positive influences on peoples lives and were seen to be a vital component of what made the community strong, successful, close, and respectful. Human service workers and women who had experienced violence specifically talked about the impact of these discourses on local culture in the Barossa Valley on domestic violence. However, for the purpose of this article, the impact of Christianity on domestic violence is the focus of analysis, as the narratives by the human service workers and women about the effects of local culture on domestic violence were strongly influenced by Christianity, specifically Lutheranism. Three common narratives were told about how Christianity affected domestic violence. First, the Lutheran Church was constructed as having a powerful position in the community, and concern was therefore raised about how it

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148 Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work

responded to domestic violence issues in the community. Second, Christianity had personal meanings for some women, which influenced their decisions regarding their relationships. Finally, men who abused their partners often used Christian values and beliefs to justify their abuse, control their wives, and stop their wives from leaving the relationship.

Narratives From a Rural Community

Power of the Lutheran Church
All the human service workers and women who participated in the study said that the Lutheran Church had a powerful position in the community. They talked about how Lutheranism played a major role in the community by fostering such values as selfreliance, a sense of belonging, and loyalty. A human service worker said,
that sense of self-reliance and there is a strong sense of community here. . . . Its reflected a lot in the church. . . . The church in this area is very active; . . . they do a lot of charity work and support. . . . I think that comes from loyalty that people have toward their church.

The human service workers acknowledged that many women and men in the community went to a church when they needed assistance with domestic violence because the church was seen as a place that the community valued, respected, and felt comfortable in approaching. Eleven women said that they decided to see a family counselor or pastor from their church because of their Christian beliefs and/or recommendations made by members of the community. Three women who were not practicing Christians also reached out to a church. A human service worker said,
People feel more comfortable talking to their local pastor . . . because of the heritage of the Barossa and its strong religious beliefs; it is culturally known as the thing to do. I think that people in the Barossa arent aware of the actual services we can provide. They are more frightened of the consequences that are going to happen when reporting [abuse] to the police, rather than doing it through a local minister.

Both the human service workers and women stated that because the church was a powerful community institution, its response to domestic violence could be either positive or negative and that the church could set the precedent for how domestic violence was addressed. Six women told positive stories about assistance from a church. For example, one woman said,
Well, [one pastor] was quite good. [After an abusive episode], he suggested that my daughter and I go out of the valley, and we went. . . . He was very protective. By that time, he had spoken to some other people who were members of the church and arranged for them to support me.

However, seven women spoke about negative experiences with a church. For example, Alison (a mother) and Amber (her daughter) spoke about how a Lutheran school chaplain became involved in their situation, and they found this involvement inappropriate and dangerous. Alison said,
I had issues with Amber at high school, and every time I rang up, they didnt want me to have a counselor, they wanted me to have a bloody chaplain. I would say, Look, I am sorry, we are not Christian. . . . What sort of qualifications do they have? To send a pamphlet to an abusive

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Wendt / Christianity and Domestic Violence 149

father? . . . The chaplain contacted [fathers name] the next day after giving him all the pamphlets; . . . Well, the shit hit the fan. It was a dangerous thing to do. She didnt even investigate it; all she did was go straight to him, which was the worst place she could have gone. . . . It is not a chaplains job; it is a social workers job. Someone has to be totally neutral, and they cant have their own agenda to push.

Amber and Alison pointed out that even though they were angry and the response was poor, they believed that the church had the best intentions and that the response was inadequate because the church just did not know how to respond. Similarly, eight human service workers and two other women also talked about the church not knowing how to address the issue of domestic violence, despite good intentions. Some talked about churches being reluctant to acknowledge or talk about domestic violence and uncertain about how to deal with it. Others wondered whether churches deliberately ignored social issues, such as domestic violence, or just did not know how to talk about them. One woman said,
The pastor said that if I wanted to come and talk in his office, he would be there. I did because I felt he wanted me to, and I shared with him. I dont feel he was real. He didnt offer to pray for us that day. I asked if he would, and he did. I didnt feel he was really personable and totally understood. I dont know what the feeling was.

The human service workers also spoke about how men who abused their partners were not challenged in the community, including the church, and consequently that their behavior was often ignored. They stressed that this situation occurred especially with men who had high status in the community, such as in the church, and that it was easy for these men to hide behind their social standing. All the human service workers acknowledged the churchs power to silence the discussion of domestic violence in the community and recognized the consequences of such power and how it could be used to perpetuate ongoing abuse. A human service worker who regularly attended church told a story about domestic violence and child abuse. He did not elaborate on it for confidentiality reasons, but he wanted to stress the power of the church in either addressing or not addressing such issues and the consequences of such decisions:
It is all under the surface, yet this guy is one of the leaders of the local church. Now what does that mean? From what his wife has said, he is abusive. How is this story significant or not? I think it shows that it is saying it is OK, and no one is game enough to stand up and say that is not good enough, even the pastors. . . . I think that demonstrates it is the power of the church, and . . . and I hate to say it, but I think it is true. It is a terrible thing to say . . . the men or some of these men hide under that.

Concern was often expressed about how churches in the Barossa Valley responded to domestic violence. The church was constructed as having the power either to make domestic violence invisible or to confront it.

Christianity: Personal Meanings for Women

The women described their internal conflicts about trying to uphold Christian values, on one hand, and their desire to leave their abusive relationships, on the other hand. The womens decisions to remain in abusive relationships were often tied to their Christian beliefs that marriage is sacred, eternal, and uniting. This battle between wanting to save

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150 Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work

their marriages and wanting to leave their partners created anguish, guilt, and sacrifice for many women who valued Christian beliefs. Fifteen of the women said that they had lost faith and belief in marriage as a result of their experiences of abuse. One woman said,
I used to be a very strong believer in marriage, but after what I have experienced, I dont see myself getting married ever again; my experience has changed my values and attitudes in that way. . . . Before my domestic violence, marriage was something I valued a lot.

Eight women spoke about their feelings of guilt and failure after they left their abusive relationships because of their Christian values and beliefs about marriage. They believed that marriage was forever, for better or worse, and that ending it was a sin in Gods eyes, as illustrated by the personal anguish of one woman after she left her marriage:
My religion helped me. . . . But when I left, I didnt go to church; I kept to myself a bit. I felt guilty that things had gone wrong and that I didnt live up to what I had promised God. A few times I did go, and all I wanted to do was cry.

On the other hand, four women stated that Christian beliefs had a positive impact on their experiences by providing them with the strength to get through the bad times in their relationships. As one woman said,
I just think, well, if something drastic was going to happen, there is someone above that knows what is actually going on. And it doesnt matter how people try and put you down; I think in the end, the truth will come out. . . . Yes. The other thing is that I know lots and lots of hymns, so when I am working and I get down, I think of a hymn, and I just go through that and that really does help me.

The personal sense of Christian identity shaped many womens experiences of violence and their recovery process. For some women, it gave them strength and optimism, which they believed helped them cope with their situations. Other women experienced much distress, despair, and disappointment, and the recovery process required them to rebuild their personal and spiritual identity.

Christianity: Mens Perpetration of Violence

A human service worker who counseled couples spoke about men using religion to justify their abuse. She talked about the consequences of such abuse not being challenged or being supported by the church. She said,
Another thing we see quite a bit . . . is spiritual abuse. . . . I can think of one woman who locked herself in the toilet, and her husband sat on a chair outside the toilet and read the Bible and quotes to her about honor, sexual favors, and that is pretty severe. . . . The other constant is that Bible verse that goes Women honor or obey your husbands. But in actual fact it does go on to say, Men honor and obey your wives and respect each other as you would God. That bit is never cited.

Four other human service workers also spoke about how men who perpetrated abuse would often talk about the sanctity of marriage to make their partners feel guilty about even contemplating leaving. A human service worker said that marriage is valued highly by couples, and this was a major reason why couples remained together:

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I think marriage is definitely number one here. What is talked about lots in counseling is commitment. The wife of three or five years will say, This relationship is not working, and if it doesnt change, I want out, but the husband will be sitting here saying, You cant leave me because we are committed, and when you had sex with me, you made that commitment to me in the eyes of God. . . . You can sometimes see in the womens faces in counseling saying Oh yes I did and then they see that commitment value and you think, Ah! Hang on, what about what is happening in the here and now and the fact that he is physically abusive to you or your children?

In summary, men who perpetrated abuse often used Christian beliefs to excuse their behavior and to shift the focus onto their partners and their marriage. The impacts of Christian beliefs for the men were externalized; that is, the men used Christian beliefs to blame their partners for difficulties in their relationship. The women, on the other hand, experienced guilt and inner turmoil about wanting to leave their marriage because of the violence and struggled spiritually to make such decisions. Thus, the impacts of the religious and spiritual discourses for women were internalized. As one woman said,
I feel that religion kept me going and coping with things, count my blessings. But looking back, my husband used it against me; . . . he was putting me down. For example, saying, You are a Sunday school teacher, so you should be doing this and you should not be doing that . . . I am the boss here. In some ways, my beliefs kept me going, and in some ways, they kept me there.

The narratives of the human service workers showed that if the major social institutions, such as the church, support and reinforce certain forms of masculinity and do not challenge and label abusive behavior, it shaped how domestic violence was understood by men and the community. If mens behavior was not seen as abusive, it reinforced mens understandings that at least some forms of abuse are acceptable.

Discussion
This study aimed to explore the impact of the local culture in a rural community on the issue of domestic violence. It found that Christianity made up a large component of the local culture in this community and therefore significantly influenced how the issue of domestic violence was understood and addressed. For these reasons, it is important to acknowledge the spiritual and religious identities of women and how such identities affect their experiences. This issue has important implications for work in the field of violence and abuse against women and Australian social work more generally. There are three significant questions stemming from this research that can be further supported by the findings of previous studies (Bell et al., 2005; Giesbrecht & Sevcik, 2000; Gillum et al., 2006; Shannon-Lewy & Dull, 2005): What role can churches play? How can religious and spiritual identity aid the healing process? What are the implications for domestic violence services and Christian communities?

What Role Can Churches Play?

The Lutheran churches in this community had the potential to make domestic violence invisible or to confront it. This finding raises the question, What role can churches play in

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152 Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work

finding contextually responsive ways to address domestic violence and challenge mens abusive behavior? There are discourses about relationships, love, and marriage inherent in the church, so it is important to explore how churches support particular discourses that influence domestic violence. For example, religion can be a powerful social institution in societies and communities that supports and maintains discourses that shape peoples lives and relationships by offering appropriate subjectivities and ways of thinking (Weedon, 1997). Womens love relationships are often complicated by multiple identities that create inner conflicts because love, relationships, and marriage are significantly influenced by social institutions, such as the church, and discourses that romanticize the (patriarchal) family and family values (Fraser, 2005). Feminist poststructuralist perspectives provide a framework to analyze these specific details of discursive fields to uncover the particular regimes of power and knowledge that are at work in womens lives and their part in the overall production and maintenance of existing power relations (Weedon, 1997). If social institutions, such as the church, become more aware of the dynamics and complexities of domestic violence and understand how power and control operate in violent situations, particular discourses that shape experiences of domestic violence can be challenged and resisted. For example, a woman who experiences abuse by her husband and views it as her responsibility as a wife to hold the family together or believes that the abuse is her fault because she is not doing her job properly is unlikely to see the abuse as an unacceptable exercise of power that cannot be tolerated (Weedon, 1997). A man who perpetrates abuse and views it as acceptable because he is the head of household or because men are naturally violent is also unlikely to see the abuse as an unacceptable exercise of power. Dominant discourses about femininity and masculinity are being maintained by religious institutions, which support and even reinforce the acceptance of abuse within intimate relationships. According to feminist poststructuralist perspectives, such discourses of femininity and masculinity are not fixed; instead they are fluid and so can be changed and challenged, which opens up space for exploring new discourses of femininity and masculinity (Pease, 1999). For example, discourses surrounding safety can be exploredthat is, it is a womans right to be safe from abuse, it takes strength to confront and/or leave an abusive relationship, responsibility lies with the person perpetrating abuse, violence is an unacceptable coping strategy, and violence is destructive to people and families. Both women and men are able to make significant changes when they begin to recognize the limitations of traditional femininities and masculinities and explore new subjectivities that confront issues of power and control in personal relationships. The church can play a major role by exploring these new subjectivities (Wendt & Cheers, 2004). If the church were to embrace the issues surrounding violence against women, it could prove to be a valuable resource. As Rogers (2003) argued, although Western Christianity can be found guilty of ignoring or condoning domestic violence, it can still aid the healing process for women. Forms and patterns of beliefs can be altered and challenged in such as way that they no longer coerce women into tolerating abusive relationships for fear of breaking with tradition or being labeled selfish. For instance, church leaders must challenge convictions, such as it is a womens cross to bear or forgiveness within the sacred bond of marriage will heal all. Church leaders need to become more sensitive to the potential for certain scriptural passages to retraumatize survivors of domestic violence and to profess in a multitude of ways that they acknowledge and condemn the pervasive realities of violence against women. It is therefore essential for church leaders to be educated about violence against women (Beste, 2005).

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How Can Religious and Spiritual Identity Aid the Healing Process?
It is increasingly being recognized that womens and mens spiritual identities need to be acknowledged in responses to domestic violence because they can have positive and negative impacts on recovery. This study found that both the womens and the communitys Christian identity influenced womens experiences of recovery. Similarly, Gillum et al.s (2006) study of women in the United States found that of the 151 women who were interviewed, 97% noted that spirituality or God was a source of strength or comfort for them while they experienced domestic violence and that religious involvement tended to increase their psychological well-being and decrease their depression while they recovered from such experiences. Numerous researchers (see, e.g., Furman et al., 2004; Gillum et al., 2006) have identified the importance of support from ones congregation, ones church leaders, and ones personal relationship with God in successful recovery and healing after domestic violence. The presence of such potential support resources raises the question: Should these sources of support be taken into consideration by domestic violence agencies as they attempt to help survivors overcome their abusive experiences?

Implications for Domestic Violence Services and Christian Communities

The increasing awareness of the role of spirituality and religious involvement in recovery from domestic violence has implications for programs that serve survivors of domestic violence. Many domestic violence services distance themselves from discussions of spirituality with women for a variety of reasons. These reasons include the lack of staff time and resources, the personal nature of spirituality, the diversity of religious or spiritual beliefs, and apprehension about discussing religious beliefs or of misunderstanding or invading privacy (Gillum et al., 2006; Shannon-Lewy & Dull, 2005). Gillum et al. (2006) suggested that the inclusion of a voluntary spirituality component in services may greatly benefit some women who are experiencing abuse. Similarly, Shannon-Lewy and Dull (2005) argued that there are potential benefits from working with religious leaders because these leaders represent a unique and important source of aid for victims. Religious leaders help to interpret and shape peoples understandings of the world in the context of their religions and so have the power to shape expectations of acceptable family behavior and to influence unacceptable behavior, such as abuse. The findings of this study also have implications for Christian communities. Christian communities need to address the issue of domestic violence (in all its forms) and to offer services to their members who are involved in abusive situations. Shannon-Lewy and Dull (2005) and Gillum et al. (2006) suggested possible responses, such as support groups, individual counseling, and involving a specialist to co-counsel couples if needed. In addition, spiritual leaders should be encouraged to attend training sessions to become aware of abuse, including the cycles, power dynamics, and experiences and needs of women; doing so may include working with secular services. As Shannon-Lewy and Dull (2005) argued, there is no need to construct religious services as being in competition with secular services, because it creates further turmoil for women who are seeking assistance. Supporting the recommendations for secular specialist services to recognize spiritual and religious discourses and for Christian communities to learn about

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and address domestic violence in all its forms, it is important for secular services and religious communities to create working relationships that suit the needs of the victims.

Feminist Poststructuralist Perspectives: Implications for Social Work

This article has demonstrated that feminist poststructuralist ways of thinking and working can open up opportunities to work with women who have experienced violence in which spirituality and religious discourses make up much of their identities. Feminist poststructuralism analyzes how women are affected by the social world and examines the role of power and knowledge relationships in shaping the ways in which women think about the social world and how the social world can be transformed (Saulnier, 1996). It deconstructs discourses of femininity and masculinity and essentializing practices that lock women and men into particular subject positions or categorizations. Not only are the categories deconstructed, but so are the modes of being that these categorizations make real (Davies et al., 2006). Feminist poststructuralism can reveal how discourses and related systems of power work in the constitution of individual subjects to subjugate and govern them and how that power may also be turned toward critique and transformation. In the case of religious and spiritual discourses and identities, the strength of feminist poststructuralist perspectives is that they offer sensitive ways in which women who have experienced violence and men who have perpetrated violence can challenge the notions of timeless and inconvertible given facts that are set in historical religious discourses (Davies et al., 2006). These perspectives allow for the recognition of diversity in experiences and meanings of domestic violence but do not ignore power relations between men and women in domestic violence relationships. I acknowledge that feminist poststructuralist perspectives on the possibility of truth can be seen by many Christians as inadequate, given that Christianity makes universal claims. However, such perspectives can also be seen to offer an important corrective to the tendency to believe that particular words can describe God in definitive ways. They allow for a focus on the interpretations of spirituality and religion and the recognition of multiple identities that are constructed within systems of religious discourse (Lindsay, 2002). Feminist poststructuralism offers a way of integrating spiritual and religious discourses and matters into social work practice by exploring and sensitively challenging oppressive discourses that form womens identities. As Coholic (2003) argued, with the increasing interest in the processes of knowing (how people know through narratives), connection, caring, and diversity (i.e., a move toward context practice in Australian social work), feminist poststructuralist perspectives are well suited to the consideration of spirituality.

References
Bell, H., Busch, N., & Fowler, D. (2005). Spirituality and domestic violence work. Critical Social Work, 6(2). Retrieved December 17, 2007, from http://www.criticalsocialwork.com/units/socialwork/critical.nsf/EditDo NotShowInTOC/CC56B12D4E8BA9F18525700F0083C4A0 Beste, J. (2005). Recovery from sexual violence and socially mediated dimensions of Gods grace: Implications for Christian communities. Studies in Christian Ethics, 18(2), 89-112. Bowpitt, G. (2000). Working with creative creatures: Towards a Christian paradigm for social work theory, with some practical implications. British Journal of Social Work, 30, 349364. Cascio, T. (1998). Incorporating spirituality into social work practice: A review of what to do. Families in Society, 79, 523-531.

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Sarah Wendt, PhD, is a lecturer at the School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, St. Bernards Road, Magill, 5072, Australia; e-mail: sarah.wendt@unisa.edu.au.

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