30-6 Cultural Contexts and Spiritual Issues in Family Therapy: Predicaments, Change and Reflections from a Domestic Violence Family
This paper explores the cultural contexts and spiritual issues in family therapy, with a special focus on a case of domestic violence. The process of family therapy was videotaped and analyzed through discourse analysis. Results revealed the family's predicaments, such as the battered woman's fear and helplessness in the face of violence, the abused child, spousal abuse and sibling relationships controlled by the father's violence. These conditions indicate that domestic violence has become normalized by patriarchal culture, social prejudice towards single mothers, religious norms on marital separation, economic pressure on single mothers, poverty and crime-related violence. After family therapy, the family has been transformed such as the relationship between the woman and her husband, among the mother, children and the siblings, although the woman still stayed in her marriage, but she knew how to free the violence from her husband. There were different culture values including 'as a mother as a strong woman', 'harmony is very precious' and male chauvinism interweaved in this violent family. This therapeutic change was related to the therapist's deeply understand why the woman didn't want to leave her husband from the cultural contexts, the reflection on cultural differences between the therapist and the battered woman, the fear of the woman to her violent husband, helped the woman de-construct the helpless to her violent husband, and to explore how to protect herself and children without leaving her husband. Church and religion provided important social and spiritual resources to the family; however, these also exerted social pressure on marital obedience through fellowship and spiritual struggles, as dictated by Christian dogma. Using her own Christian identity, the therapist openly discussed biblical teachings about divorce, which reduced the client's anxiety. This resulted in a transformation from a personal religious problem to a form of spiritual healing. The author highlighted the importance of cultural context and spirituality in future family therapy training and applications.
Keywords
cultural contexts、family therapy、domestic violence、spirituality
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