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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2012)
|3artianà (Obstruer Page 4 June 6, 2012 Taking Aim at Abuse c o n t i n u e d f r o m fr o n t reasons why he has rem ained w o rk ing in the profession over the past 12-years. “Every case that I w ork on has a victim attached to it, and a lot o f how well they are going to do in the future depends on how diligently we w ork on our cases,” he said. A ccording to W alker, there is not a m om ent o f his day w hen he isn ’t on call to help police officers and clients m ake the tough decisions. “ Y ou have to have good ju d g m ent, a good m em ory, and com m on sense d o e sn ’t hurt,” he said. “ W e w ork under a system w here w e try to identify w here pow er and control are as the basis o f abuse. T he g en eral strategy includes long term e d u c a tio n .” He said, how ever, w hile behavior can be changed, success d o e sn ’t com e ov er night. W alker said there are tw o p o p u lations he w orks w ith, including those w hom are convicted o f a crim e and placed on probation instead o f going to a correctional institution, and those w hom have been released from prison, and require supervi sion w ithin the com m unity. O ur jo b is really two different func tions at the sam e time, he said. “One, we hold them accountable for the conditions o f supervision that court or the parole board set. O ur second jo b is to prom ote behavior change.” It is cross-cultural, said W alker. “It doesn’t fall into a single socio eco nom ic strata. D om estic violence is a fairly pervasive problem , not ju st in Portland, but really around the world.” photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver Stuart Walker works the domestic violence unit at the Multnomah County Department o f Community Justice. Named Oregon's parole and probation officer o f the year, he said violence against a spouse or domestic partner is a fairly pervasive problem, not ju s t in Portland, but around the world. W alker grew up in A rlington, a small tow n in eastern O regon, w here he graduated from high school. A fter taking som e college classes, W alker said he still had yet to find a career that truly spoke to his passions, so he jo in ed the Army. “In the service I w asn’t sure what I w anted to do, so w herever I landed I would take som e classes,” he said. O ne o f his professors was a parole officer, w ho helped W alker realize that this was a career he w anted to pursue. “W hen I w as finishing up my degree I interned at a pro b atio n o f fice in C orvallis, and everything m atched up w ith w hat I w anted to d o ,” he said. “I felt it w as really im portant w ork.” W alk er said the jo b has changed the w ay he perceives the w orld. “ Y ou look at society a little bit differ en tly ,” he said. “ I have w orked on dom estic violence cases alm ost m y en tire career, and you begin to d e velop a sense o f w hen your relatio n ship m ight have som e abuse. So you see it even w hen it is not people you are w orking w ith.” W alk er d escrib ed these situ a tions as m om ents w hen individuals use p o w er and control o v er so m e one else by force. “ It gets h ard er not to n o tice,” he said. A ccording to W alker, there are 125 parole officers in M ultnom ah C ounty, and nearly 500 officers fo r the entire state o f O regon. A lthough cyclical, W alker said the m etro area is currently going through a spike in dom estic v io lence h o m ic id e in cid en ts, w hich have taken place over the last couple o f years. A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR WOMEN THROUGHOUT ALL STAGES OF LIFE. Same great people, great new name. Make an appointment and come by to see us in our Eastbank office and Tabor office. EASTBANK 501 N. GRAHAM, SUITE 525 PORTLAND, OR 97227 PHONE: (503) 249-5454 TABOR 5050 HOYT STREET, SUITE 359 PORTLAND, OR 97213 PHONE: (503) 249-5454 “Lethality in dom estic violence is really difficult to predict,” he said. “ But I ’d say over the last tw o years, there has been an above average am ount o f m urder suicides, w here the batter is m urdering the victim and quite a few have involved children.” W alk er said, how ever, w hen a hom icide occurs, m ost individuals will go to prison for a long tim e, if not life. M ore co m m o n cases include in cid en ts o f stran g u latio n , h a ra ss m ent, assault and restraining order violations. A t any given time, W alker has betw een 25 and 30 cases. In an effo rt to reduce the n u m bers, W alk er said risk assessm ent is a m ain priority. “W e are looking for behavioral predictors that w ould suggest a r eas w e need to focus o n,” he said. “W e call them crim inogenic needs because the biggest d riv er o f c rim i nal b eh av io r is crim inal thinking, anti-social peers, anti social b eh av ior, and a crim inal h istory.” H e uses tactics o f intervention to “p u sh ” som eone from anti-social to pro-social behavior. “ A ny im provem ent is a w in, but som etim es it is difficult b ecause we are m easuring it o v er a long period o f tim e,” he said. “T h ere is no quick fix fo r som eone that has spent a life tim e d e v e lo p in g b e lie fs th a t cause th em to get stuck in the c rim i nal ju stic e sy stem .” A ccording to W alker, research ers all o v er the planet are w orking on how to reduce crim inality, an d how to reduce acts o f dom estic violence. “ E v e ry y e a r s o m e th in g n ew com es out, and w e get clo ser,” he said. “ B ut the real key, one o f the things w e are doing right now , is p rogram m ing focusing on co g n i tive b eh av io r interventions. T his is ju s t a fancy w ay o f saying that thoughts drive beh av ior.” If you are going to m ake a change w ith any population, it is going to be by addressing thinking and doing it in a very system atic w ay, he said. A lthough there are som e cases w here w om en are the perpetrators o f dom estic abuse, W alker said the m ain clients he w orks w ith are m en from all different backgrounds. H e also said anyone in need o f resources o r inform ation on how to receive help, to call the P ortland W om en ’ s Crisis line at 503-235-5333 or toll free at 888-235-5333. If you are in im m ediate danger, call 9-1 -1. “T h at is the starting p oint for anyone in Portland looking for help,” he said. “T h ey are a great resource." O th er resources fo r those e x p eri e n c in g a b u s e , in c lu d e th e M ultnom ah C ounty M ental H ealth C risis L ine at 5 0 3 -988-4888 and the N ational D om estic V iolence H otline at 1 -800-799-S AFE( 1-800-799-7233).
