The Impact of Domestic Violence on Samoan Families

Written by:  Terry Tofaeono, PROVISION

In the late 70’s, early 80’s, a punk-rock group donned the name, “The Angry Samoans.”  Ironically, none of the band members are from Samoa and none of them have any Samoan heritage.  When asked why they named their band The Angry Samoans, drummer Billy Vockeroth had this to say:
 
“Somebody thought we should name (the band) ‘angry’ because one time in Carson we had a run-in with some Samoan bouncers. They were really mean. But we’ve never been harassed or anything.”
 
Samoans are known to be good at being bouncers.  We’re also known to be good at playing football, rugby, and being good soldiers in the military.  Basically, one might assume that Samoans are well-built for anything that involves some form of violence.
 
The sad truth is that most Samoans are exposed to violence at an early age, so they’re used to it.  Domestic violence is commonplace in Samoan households and in some ways even considered normal.  Spousal abuse and child abuse (both physical and sexual) run rampant on these islands, and it’s been going on for generations.  Something has to be done to change the narrative within our communities so we don’t continue to see the negative impact that domestic violence has on our people.
 
The impact of domestic violence on Samoan families is overwhelming, and here are just a few examples:
 
1.Negative Stereotype – there’s a reason the name Angry Samoans stuck with a group of non-Samoans in a band.  If you live in the U.S. and know any Samoans, you’ve most likely seen them angry a time or two.  That has led to the negative stereotype that we are angry people.
2.Broken Homes – I mentioned earlier that Samoans make good soldiers.  Many of those soldiers come back from serving in the military with different levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and it affects their families.  I would dare to say that most of these soldiers have PTSD even before they leave the islands to join the military.  The violence that happens between parents affects the children in traumatic ways.  As they grow up, they tend to become violent themselves and also turn to ways of numbing their pain, such as drinking alcohol or drugs.
3.Generational Curse – The violence that happens in the home is typically mimicked by the children in the family and passed down from generation to generation, as are the numbing agents used to cope with the pain of domestic violence.  Alcoholism and drug abuse also gets passed to our young people and the use of these agents commonly leads to more anger and abuse, depression, addiction, and sometimes suicide and death.
   
If change is to happen, it has to be an effort by EVERYONE.  We can’t rely solely on the leaders in government or the church leaders.  We can’t just look to our village leaders or family elders.  Everyone has to band together and first recognize that domestic violence is not normal and it’s not the answer if we want to live in peace and harmony.  Once we see that domestic violence is not the answer, then we need to come together as a community to remove it from our culture, one step at a time.  E tasi ae afe means one with the strength of many.  We have to band together to become ONE.  It takes UNITY.