Family Violence:

This paper summarizes the results of research project into a testable family violence intervention. The interventions intend to reduce the potential for violence by altering dysfunctional family structures and changing pertinent belief systems which perpetuate cycles of violence. The key assumption is that family violence is an adaptational mechanism in response to change (stressors) and that the response is, in part, learned or culturally reinforced. It was hypothesized that abuse in families is occasioned and perpetuated by the characteristics of the interpersonal systenls in which the participants are located. The system of concern is the family, and the theoretical model which depicts the family structure is the Circumplex Model.