There always seems to be a hopelessness in all conversations about violence. Violence is a multifactorial problem that has biological, social, cultural, psychological, economic, environmental and political roots. So, There is no simple or unique solution to the problem of violence: This must be addressed from multiple levels of action and prevention and from different sectors of society simultaneously.
Domestic violence can be of different types, some more visible than others, on a physical, emotional and/or psychological level It can also be directed at various people: from children to parents, from parents to children, to the couple or to older people. All types of violence have a component of control and power. Domestic violence has a profound impact on all members of the family system, whether the violence is directed at them or if they witness it.
To offer an effective intervention against violence and its profoundly harmful effects on everyone around us, we must necessarily carry out a thorough evaluation at the beginning of therapy and continuously throughout the intervention. Domestic violence hides behind shame, fear, projection and family limits: we cannot work on what they do not show and share with us, what we do not see or know.
When – as professionals – we suspect that there is abuse, we must evaluate the dynamics of family conflicts; Sometimes, even by asking directly, it is common not to obtain a global vision of the problem. This is why it is very important to start therapy from the beginning even if we have no information or it is limited. In this way, work must be done in each case with a combination of simultaneous and continuous evaluation and treatment, for more solid effectiveness.
Primary prevention: the fight against domestic violence
Primary prevention, stopping violence before it occurs whenever possible, seems in theory to have a relatively simple basis. However, it is actually a complex process. Many domestic violence prevention efforts focus on the individual, educating and informing the abuser and the person at risk of being a victim at the same time, protection actions are activated for the latter as well.
However, it is essential to remember that all prevention work must take into account a broader panorama, which includes different systems: the family, the different organizations of the immediate community where that family operates, and the social systems. more general ones already established such as the National Health System, Social Services and the Education System, to name just a few of them.
No act of violence is caused or prevented in isolation In English Social Services, all work with families is based on the Evaluation Framework, which takes into account three fundamental aspects when evaluating or drawing up an action plan, whether prevention or intervention:
Violence at home, a global fight
The ideal is that violence is always faced from a joint effort made from various interventions, addressing the various factors and implementing a global strategy of action that includes the most individual factors, such as the aggressive behavior of an adolescent or the problem of child abuse. substances of a family member, passing through family aspects (forms of discipline at home), cultural (beliefs about raising children) and more social factors, such as being part of a street gang, being a refugee or having a certain socioeconomic status.
At the individual level, it is known that personal history and biological factors also influence how individuals behave and can increase their likelihood of becoming a victim or abuser. From a systemic perspective, the individual understands himself in relation to the people in his environment and how these relationships function and shape the experience of that individual The most immediate environment of an individual is the family.
Personal relationships can influence the risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence. For example, having violent friends can influence a young person to become involved in or become a victim of violence. From a systemic perspective, the complexity of the family dynamics of which the child/adolescent is a part is taken into account, as well as the dynamics with other significant people in the environment of the child/adolescent and the family.
Different social factors influence whether violence is reinforced or inhibited. These include economic and social policies that maintain socioeconomic inequalities between people, the availability of weapons, and social and cultural norms that support violence as a common method of resolving conflicts. The community contexts in which social relationships occur, such as schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces, also influence violence Risk factors here may include the level of unemployment, population density, mobility and the existence of a space where drugs or weapons are sold.
How to combat domestic violence
Conclusions
In summary, Domestic violence from a systemic point of view understands that the family is a system of relationships that develops not only in a unique intra-family culture but also includes practically all sectors of our society such as education, health, government, law enforcement, religion, family, media, and other institutions and associated factors eg, immigration, which have an effect on the development of each family member and on the family as a system.
Therefore, if all of these factors are interrelated in the individual and their behavior, it makes sense that the most effective responses to violence are multifactorial. Domestic violence cannot be understood in isolation, but as one more piece in the great puzzle that is human relationships.
