Couple Violence and Couple Safety: A Systemic and Attachment-Oriented Approach to Working with Complexity and Uncertainty

Source: (2007) In John Hamel and Tonia L. Nicholls, Ed., Family Interventions in Domestic Violence. New York, USA: Springer Publishing Company. Pp. 381-396.

“In this chapter, we focus on our work with couples where one or both partners has behaved in physically and emotionally abusive ways. Our definition of violence encompasses physical harm and threats of harm, coercion, humiliation, and other forms of emotional and economic abuse. We use an extended example to show how we weave theory and practice in the context of ongoing risk assessment and risk management. Although much of our work is with men as partners and fathers, we do also work with women who are violent. We have chosen our example to illustrate the complexity around working with a couple where both the man and the woman have behaved violently.”