title: A nontraditional approach to family violence.
abstract: Family violence has often been conceptualized as a linear phenomenon in which perpetrators commit acts intended to hurt victims. Intervention in these circumstances involves treating the perpetrator and the victim individually. In contrast, this article presents a Systemic Belief Approach to the situation of mutual family violence. A case example illustrates the influence of beliefs on the occurrence of violent acts between family members (in this case, sole-parent mother and adolescent daughter). Family systems nursing interventions such as reflective questions and reflecting teams are used to challenge the family's constraining beliefs, which enables the coevolution of facilitative beliefs that invite healing.
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary, Faculty of Nursing, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005192:Family Health; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012801:Sibling Relations; D015406:Single Parent / Q000523:psychology; D013598:Systems Theory; D014754:Violence