Sessions

Session Descriptions

Nov16/AM: KEYNOTE

Just Because It’s Not Wrong Doesn’t Make it Right. From Toddlers to Teens, Teaching Kids to Think and Act Ethically (Barbara Coloroso)
A workshop packed with solid practical advice on how to use the stuff of everyday life to teach children to act with integrity, civility, and compassion. Beginning with the idea that it is in us to care, that we are born with an innate capacity for compassion, Barbara Coloroso shows professionals, educators, and parents how to nurture and guide children’s ethical lives from toddlerhood through the teen years using everyday situations at home, at school, in social settings, and in the world at large.
Covered in this workshop:

How to develop an ethic rooted in deep caring with principles, virtues, and values that are in the service to and at the service of that caring
The why and how to teach our children to think and act ethically
The possibilities and pitfalls of character education programs
Nurturing in children the three antidotes (care deeply, share generously, help willingly) to the virulent agents that are ripping apart the fabric of our human relationships (hating, hoarding, and harming ourselves and others)
How rigid moral absolutism and shifting moral relativism interfere with raising ethical human beings
Media: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Indifferent--how we can help children use these tools and not be used or consumed by them.
The difference between punishment and discipline--why one works and the other only appears to.

The story about our human nature in today’s social and cultural climate is part and parcel of our human nature and our social and cultural climate. Our story is also guided by our compassion and loving kindness, which recognizes that there is no I without Thou, no We without Community and no way to survive without honoring both our unique individuality and our common humanity.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION A

The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander. From Pre-School to High School: How Parents and Teachers can help break the cycle of violence (Barbara Coloroso)
It is the deadliest combination going: bullies who get what they want from their target, bullied kids who are afraid to tell, bystanders who either watch, participate, or look away, and adults who see the incidents as simply “teasing” and a normal part of childhood. We have only to look to the headlines to understand that this is a recipe for tragedy. Some bullying targets, their cries unheard, have fought back with violence that has devastated entire communities; others have committed suicide; many more suffer in silence, their lives a constant round of emotional and physical pain. Discussing her book, the bully, the bullied, and the bystander, Barbara Coloroso gives parents, caregivers, educators--and most of all, kids--the tools to break this cycle of violence.
Topics:

Bullying--what it is and what it isn’t
The ways and means of bullying
The difference between teasing and taunting, flirting and sexual bullying
The Bully--differences and similarities between boys and girls; the short and long term impact on the bully
The Bullied--warning signs and steps to take for and by the targeted child; when the bullied becomes a bully
The Bystanders--how they aid and abet the bully and how they can become peacemakers
Helping kids develop a code of compassion
The Solution--the difference between punishment, rescuing and discipline; how reconciliatory justice works; creating opportunities to “do good”
Caring Schools, Involved Communities--community-wide solutions that work.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION B

Leduc and District Family Support and Intervention Program (Steve Koziol & Corporal Deanna Fontaine)
This session provides an overview of the (CIF funded) Leduc and District Family Support and Intervention program provides a free 13 week men’s and women’s psychoeducational group. This program helps participants understand what family violence is; how they got there; how to get out of the cycle and how to accept responsibility for one’s actions. We also provide a concurrent children’s group for children affected by family violence and a women’s follow up support group.
This program is modeled after the Drayton Valley Comprehensive Family Violence program that has been running successfully for close to ten years.
We also wish to review the challenges and rewards of community stakeholder cooperation to bring such a program to Leduc and to have it run successfully for the past three years. There are ten different social service organizations and three levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal) fully involved in making our community a safer place to live. An added benefit to all has been a stronger community awareness of the issue of family violence and better coordination of services.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION C

Bride Price and its Implication for Domestic Violence (Mary Fiakpui)
The first part of this session will look at meanings and traditions surrounding bride price. How much bride price is too much, too little, reasonable and implications for domestic violence. Can bride price be used as reason for domestic violence or is it all about societal patriarchal norms and values that are comfortable with male dominance and marginalization and oppression of women, as will be narrated in the second part of this session in a real life case of privilege, power, oppression and domestic violence.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION D

Project KARE (Chief Superintendent Michael Sekela, RCMP)
Project KARE is Phase III or the investigational phase of the High Risk Missing Persons Project (HRMPP). The HRMPP was initiated in the fall of 2002, as a result of the examination of Project EVENHANDED, which has since witnessed the conviction of serial killer Robert PICKTON. Project KARE like Project EVENHANDED and the G8 Summit are massive investigational files and large events that highlight the need for inter agency cooperation at all levels within participating organizations and non government agencies.
This presentation will provide insight into the creation, implementation, and challenges associated with these large scale investigations. It includes the strategies of the Project KARE Proactive Team which deals with high-risk individuals. Superintendent SEKELA will discuss and share various aspects within large investigational files such as the HRMPP and Project KARE. Discussion will surround some of the investigational strategies, large scale information management, and disclosure techniques. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions and engage in constructive dialog with Superintendent SEKELA.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION E

Building Communities’ Capacity to Keep Kids safe from Violence and Abuse: the RespectED Education Model (RespectED: Violence & Abuse Prevention, Canadian Red Cross Society–Kristy Harcourt and Alana Ross)
Canadian Red Cross RespectED works with communities to create safe environments, free from violence and abuse, for children and youth. Training and consultation for service providers includes an introduction to risk management and topic streams exploring: Safety from Violence and Abuse, Promoting Healthy Teen Dating Relationships, Preventing Bullying and Harassment.
This workshop will share an overview of the RespectED approach, share research findings about prevention education and community engagement, and highlight programming developed by and for Aboriginal audiences. The presenters will also discuss the integration of child safety skills into programming in rural and remote communities.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION F

Dying to get out: Exploring the link between suicide and domestic violence
(The Support Network–Stephanie Parent-Chandler)
This workshop examines the links between suicide and domestic violence, and discusses the elevated risk of suicide for those experiencing domestic violence.
The characteristics of suicidal thought and the concept of ambivalence will be explored as they relate to both suicide and domestic violence. We will examine the risk of suicide from several perspectives and roles, including children exposed to family violence.
Information on manipulation and suicide will be incorporated into the discussion as participants explore how to ask about suicide and how to assess the threat and risk level. We will identify key resources and referrals for those at risk.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION G

Women, Family Violence and Brain Injury (DAWN-RAFH Canada–Carmela Hutchison & Jane Warren)
Jane Warren and Carmela Hutchison, both brain injury survivors, will present the issues faced when women who have a brain injury come to shelter such as the lack of awareness that women may be experiencing brain injury symptoms when they come to shelter and suggest coping strategies for working with the women.

Nov16/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION H

Family Violence & Immigrant Communities (Pauline Ngure)
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behaviors used to establish power and control over an intimate partner or a family member. Abuse is any form of controlling, hurtful act, word, or gesture that injures another’s body or emotions. Domestic or family violence is not a disagreement, a marital spat, or an anger management problem.
Why is there a lot of Family Violence among the Immigrant Communities?
Rigid gender roles – there is a sense of entitlement to be “in charge” in the relationship or in the family. The abuser strongly subscribes to rigid, stereotypical gender roles. Tradition, culture and religion are used to justify abuse. Among the immigrant communities, there are a lot of frustrations, stress, a feeling of rejection in their new country and a feeling of discrimination. Some of the immigrants, as and until they arrived in Canada, did not know that, they have a different culture, a different way of saying and doing things. They were used to another type of discipline either on their children or their spouse. These are just a few of the reasons why there is a lot of violence in immigrant communities. Lack of employment; lack of recognition of qualifications and experience; language problem and lack of enough support to help immigrants settle in their new country. Because of these and many other factors that affect immigrant communities, people are angry, they feel they have been denied their role as the head of the family and they resort to violence at home. Most immigrant people are ignorant about the law and this is where the service providers and government agencies comes in. In some communities, men express their love to their wives or girlfriends by hitting them. It’s very common especially in African countries.
What are the warning signs?
Jealous – this at first might seem as an expression of love or concern but as time passes, jealousy turns into entitlement and possession.
Substance or drug abuse – There is a strong link between violence and abuse of alcohol and other drugs among the immigrant communities. The abuser uses substance abuse to excuse offensive and hurtful behaviors. The substance abuse does not cause, or excuse the abusive behaviors.
Use of violence – Abusers may have a history of using force or violence to solve problems. They may display a quick temper, overreact to little problems and frustrations of everyday life.
How does domestic violence affect the children and the society at large?
Children grow up believing that it is normal to be abused and to be an abuser…so the pattern continues. The cost to children is cumulative over time, from emotional disturbance in childhood to re-enacting the violence in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. It does not only affect the survivor, but also the children the person who is abusive; the health care system, the criminal justice system and businesses.
Justice, Society, Shelters, Support Groups, Churches, Schools, Community Associations and finally, Restraining Orders.

Nov16/PM: KEYNOTE

The Healing Journey: A Longitudinal Study of Women in Alberta Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence(RESOLVE–Lorraine Radke, Leslie Tutty, Jan Reimer)
This presentation will focus on the needs of a diverse group of Albertan women who have experienced intimate partner violence, the services they have accessed, and their evaluation of those services over a 12-month period. Our data come from a longitudinal study of abused women, the Healing Journey project, which involves the collaboration of the three Resolve offices and a large, interdisciplinary team of academic researchers and community partners. This study is unique in the breadth of information acquired and in its exploration of the lives of abused women over time. The title of the study was not meant to imply that abused women, even those who have good access to services and support, would be healed within a fixed period of time. Nevertheless, the research team aimed to design a study that could assess both the challenges abused women face and the strength and resilience they show in the face of those challenges. We are committed to making this knowledge useful to the community in order to improve the lives of women like those who have volunteered for this study.

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION I

The Healing Journey: Mothering Within the Context of Intimate Partner Violence
(RESOLVE–Lorraine Radke, Leslie Tutty, Jan Reimer)
The majority of participants in the Healing Journey study are mothers. In this session, we will focus on the experience of mothering in the context of intimate partner violence. This includes an analysis of data pertaining to the services mothers utilized to help with their mothering responsibilities, challenges they face in parenting their children, their perceptions of the impact of the intimate partner violence on their children, and their experiences with custody and access.

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION J

NAAS- Access to Women’s Shelters for Women with Disabilities
(DAWN-RAFH Canada–Carmela Hutchison & Jewelles Smith)
DAWN-RAHF Canada (DisAbled Women’s Network) is currently asking shelters across Canada to participate in The National Accessibility and Accommodation Survey (NAAS). To date, 15% of shelters across Canada have completed the survey. The goal of the survey is to determine shelter accessibility to women with various types of disabilities – mental, physical, and emotional and to implement recommendations to shelters on how to make their spaces more accessible for disabled women. We are concerned that disabled women--whether they are leaving violent or abusive homes, or facing eviction--do not have a safe and accessible place to turn to.
The crisis that women and girls with disabilities are facing in Canada is exacerbated by violence, poverty, lack of adequate housing, and inaccessible shelters. Disabled women and girls are 1.5 to 10 times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled women. Further, women who are disabled are more likely to live below the poverty line. With the present crisis in housing, statistically, disabled women are at far higher risk of experiencing homelessness. It is critical for women with disabilities to have accessible shelters, emergency housing, and outreach programs, DAWN-RAFH Canada is working with communities
This paper will analyze the early findings of the NAAS, the risks to disabled women who are homeless or living in precarious housing situations, and the relationships between violence, poverty and housing for women with disabilities. In conclusion, the paper will offer recommendations for safer, accessible shelters and homes.

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION K

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Research Findings and Implications (Dr. Judee E. Onyskiw)
Although children are exposed to violence in the media and in their community, most violence that children are exposed to occurs in their own homes behind closed doors. For many years, it was widely believed that children were unaffected unless they themselves were physically maltreated. The fact that children living in violent homes were having difficulty coping was first brought to our attention in the early 1970s when shelter workers started describing the behaviour problems of children who accompanied their mothers to shelters. Since then, numerous studies have examined the impact of domestic violence on children.
This presentation will include a review of research examining the impact of exposure to domestic violence on children’s behaviour, functioning, and development. Typically, exposure to domestic violence is associated with more emotional and behavioral problems, lower levels of social and cognitive competence, and more health problems in children. While individual children vary in their symptom severity, problems serious enough to require clinical intervention are seen at far greater rates in these children than in children from non-violent families. However, not all children are equally affected. The specific effects differ depending on a host of variables, such as the child’s age, gender and whether the child is also being victimized. Some children living in violent homes have adapted to their difficult circumstances and are not showing signs of distress. This presentation will include a discussion of the factors that promote resiliency in children. Finally, suggestions will be given for future research efforts in order to develop greater understanding of the impact of violence exposure on children’s health and development.
With greater understanding, more effective interventions aimed at preventing both exposure to violence and its negative impact, can be developed to assist vulnerable children. This presentation will appeal to social workers, shelter and child-care workers, mental health counselors, health care providers, advocates, community activists, and researchers working in the area of domestic violence.

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION L

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION M

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION N

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION O

Nov16/PM: CONCURRENT SESSION P

When Cultures Collide: How do we deal with the cultural gap around issues of family violence?
(Pol Ngeth & Augusta Ugoala)
Over the past two centuries, Canada has become a culturally diverse country and has continued to grow as such. Alberta is likely to continue to be a major Canadian destination for immigrants and refugees. Welcoming newcomers to Alberta will not only bring opportunity for economic growth, but also more challenges, such as issues around cultural conflicts and services that require more culturally competence/sensitivity - especially in addressing the issues of cross-cultural family violence. Newcomers often feel disempowered by the transition to a new culture and are, consequently, more likely to react to the emotional claims of their families in a negative or non-constructive manner.
According to ‘Status of Women, 2002’ Alberta has the highest rate of reported spousal assault in Canada. The Calgary Police Services reported that in 2006, they responded to more than 13,000 domestic violence related calls for services (Calgary Police Service Annual Report). Although, statistics do not reveal the proportion of immigrant/refugee families affected by family violence, increasing incidents of this problem are being brought to both writers’ attention in their work at Immigrant Services Calgary, and Children Services Authority.
This presentation is designed to describe the cross-cultural issues and barriers to social inclusion experienced by immigrant and refugee families. A model involving an innovative, interventionist, strategic approach for immigrant and refugee families will be presented. This model can be utilized both by immigrant and refugee families to develop improved coping strategies, and by front-line personnel for everyday service delivery.
The components of this workshop will include examples of the following:

Immigrant and Refugee issues around family violence and trauma
Cross cultural issues and communication
Examples of some innovative intervention and prevention strategies
Examples of some healing techniques (such as cross-cultural awareness, play therapy and accompanying films to illustrate).

Nov16/PM: BONUS WORKSHOP

Buddhist and Dalai Lama perspective on “Destructive Emotion” (Pol Ngeth)
The participants will listen to a tape that describes the phenomenon of “Destructive Emotion” according to Buddhist and Dalai Lama perspectives. The facilitators will provide opportunities for discussion throughout the session.
The components of this session will focus on the scientific dialogue between Science and Buddhism into a new direction. It aims at clarifying what exactly Buddhist and Western cognitive scientists mean by dealing with emotions.
Participants will:

Learn different perspectives, between the Western and Buddhist points of view, as to how to manage their emotions.
Learn to explore the notion of feeling as a mental state (one of the main characteristics of the Buddhist approach to dealing with emotions).

Nov17/AM: KEYNOTE

Drinking, Drug Use, and Partner Violence: It’s A Family Affair (William Fals-Stewart)
Although once considered a private family matter, intimate partner violence (IPV) is now widely acknowledged as a great public health concern, requiring a concerted societal response to address its devastating effects on spouses, children, friends, and others. Among the complexities of IPV that have been dissected in efforts to understand it, the potential causal role of drinking and other drug use has been the topic of considerable polemical debate. Does intoxication ‘cause’ IPV? Is it an ‘excuse’ to avoid taking responsibility for violence? The dynamic interrelationship of drinking/substance use, family functioning, and violence will be explored, including discussion of implications for prevention, intervention, and policy..

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION A

Invisible Scars: the Effects of Emotional Maltreatment (Naomi Haines Griffith)
Many of us taunted our childhood playmates with the old adage, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words can never harm me.” However, as adults we know that the invisible scars and bloodless cuts may be the most harmful of all. This workshop will examine closely clusters of destructive parental behavior that may occur alone or may accompany physical or sexual abuse. The difference between a child raised to experience emotional health and one emotionally maltreated will be emphasized. This discussion is critical to all of us as professionals and caregivers.

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION B

Intimate Partner Violence and Drinking: Where Do We Go From Here (William Fals-Stewart)
Although there is much heated debate about the causal role of drinking in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), there is little doubt that intoxication and partner aggression (verbal, physical, sexual) very often occur together. As such, what are the implications for intervention when consideration is given to relationship of alcohol use (and other drug consumption) and violence in the family? This presentation will explore different intervention approaches for IPV and how drinking/drug use by one or both partners is viewed and addressed. This will include a brief review of research on IPV treatment and its efficacy, description of approaches that appear promising, and discussion of next steps in developing approaches to help families harmed by violence.

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION C

The fear factor: Fear of the abuser / Fear of the system (Brian Vallée)
A screening of the CBC documentary Life With Billy is used as the back-drop for a discussion of the large role all-consuming ‘fear’ plays in criminal domestic violence -- not only the fear of the abuser but also the fear that the system won’t listen, understand or protect victims.

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION D

Taking Sexual Abuse Prevention Tips out of the Perpetrator’s Tool Belt
(Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton–Pragya Sharma and Monika Penner)
This interactive workshop will explore the use and impact of sexual assault prevention tips. We will discuss the various approaches to safety tips (what kinds of tips people are given), including how they have evolved into their present form, and the relationship between these tips and sexual assault prevention.
Some of the questions we will be exploring are:

How do personal safety tips impact clients?
How do personal safety tips impact the discourse of sexual violence on a social level?
How do we provide psycho-education on the behaviours and patterns of perpetrators without contributing to victim-blaming?
What populations are targeted by prevention tips and why?

Included in this discussion will be a focus on particular populations to whom personal safety tips are directed, including: racialized women, sex workers, people with disAbilities, LGBTTIQQ populations, and youth.

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION E

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION F

Refugee children and trauma (Dr. Sophie Yohani)
Refugee children and youth within school and community settings can bring specific needs resulting from a unique culmination of stressors related to experiences of persecution and trauma in the context of war. In addition, they can experience stressors within settlement countries resulting from further interpersonal violence such as racism, bullying, or domestic violence. Research related to successful outcomes under conditions of adversity has suggested that success encompasses relationships between risks, resources and contexts (McCubbin, Thompson & Thompson, 1995). However, to date there is little information on how the interaction between pre- and post migration experiences of trauma manifest in the life experiences of refugee children and youth. The majority of research focuses on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as an outcome, yet it is also known that not all refugee children go on to develop PTSD. This presentation explores the mental health experiences of refugee and war affected children utilizing Silove’s (2004) eco-social model as a framework for understanding children adaptation and development after trauma and persecution. This strength-based model expands traditional trauma models (that rely heavily on PTSD as the main outcome) to look at core psychosocial pillars of safety, attachment, identity, justice and meaning and how they are impacted by inter-personal violence and trauma. In our presentation we will use a combination of clinical/community case studies and research on refugee children’s mental health to explore the impact of violence in the lives of refugee children. Participants in this session will gain an understanding of trauma from the experience of two clinicians who have worked with refugee children and youth and see how a resilience-based framework shows potential for understanding the impact of pre- and post-migration experiences of violence on the lives of children. Specifically, we will use interactive case examples to illustrate how social, cultural, and individual physiological factors interact and manifest in the context of trauma and trauma-reminders such as domestic violence. Limitations to the model and avenues for future research and practice with children and youth will also be presented.

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION G

Stalking Behaviour and the Crime of Criminal Harassment (Constable Eric Nelson, Calgary Police Service)
This session will discuss Canada’s law of Criminal Harassment, stalker behavioural patterns, strategies for victims, and police investigation techniques.

Nov17/AM: CONCURRENT SESSION H

The Connection between Family Violence, Child Abuse, Elder Abuse and Animal Cruelty
(Calgary Humane Society–Sarah Davies)
Participants attending this presentation will learn about animal cruelty and its connection to domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse. Additionally, information on risk factors for children exposed to and/or who are perpetrating animal abuse will be covered, as this can be an indicator of future violence towards humans. Following the presentation, individuals will be equipped with the tools they need to help them recognize, respond and report in cases of animal cruelty, especially those involving children and seniors. We will discuss how animals enhance the lives of clients who are experiencing abuse, which underscores the importance of the “Safe Haven for Pets Programs” for victims of domestic violence. Information on how to work with men, women and children affected by abuse of an animal will be provided. Furthermore, Calgary research on the Connection and how it fueled the official beginnings of the Pet Safekeeping Program at the Calgary Humane Society will also be discussed and resources on starting a Safe Haven for Pets Program will be provided. Protocols for cross-reporting between human service providers and animal welfare providers to ensure no victim of abuse go un-reported; this discussion will include what to look for, and how to respond to these situations. Finally, participants will learn to end the cycle of violence all victims need to be considered, human and animal.

Nov17/PM: KEYNOTE 1

The War on Women (Brian Vallée)
This address sets out to prove that there is an ongoing devastating ‘War on Women’ including:

Why there is no let-up in the number of women (and often their children) being killed in their homes.
Analyzing the role of the police, shelters, courts, government, law schools and the media.
The rise of men’s rights groups and their lobbying and public relations efforts.
Gender inequality – the elephant in the living room.
Where and why the “system” breaks down and how to fix it.
The devastation wrought by criminal domestic violence in many First Nation communities.

Nov17/PM: KEYNOTE 2

Renewing our Commitment: Seeing the Hard Work with New Eyes (Naomi Haines Griffith)
With the demands of increasing reports, more seriously impaired families, shrinking resources, and “doing more with less”, it is necessary to examine our work and ourselves with a different perspective, indeed a different standard. This presentation will be an encouragement to all personnel, regardless of area of responsibility, to redefine their personal goals and recommit themselves to the work. All staff, from the new “spit and vinegar” workers to those whose years have left them faint and weary of heart, can benefit from a realistic and confirming discussion of their work with children and families.