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A Solution-Focused Intervention with a Youth in a Domestic Violence Situation: Longitudinal Evidence

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Abstract

This article reports on a 4-year therapeutic intervention combining in-person and email communication with a 13-year-old Greek-Cypriot teenager who witnessed and later was the victim of severe domestic violence. The intervention is based on an empowerment philosophy and solution-focused strategies, and its usefulness is evaluated by three standardized measures at five time points between the years 1999 and 2003. Pertinent cultural and ethical dynamics of the interventional context are highlighted. The intervention may have helped to produce better perpetrator–youth relations, remission of the client’s depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms, and improvement in his academic performance. Implications and limitations are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This report would not have been possible without the gracefulness of this youth and his family who consented to publication. The author also thanks Dr. David Cohen and Dr. Miriam Potocky of Florida International University, and this journal’s editors and anonymous reviewers for comments made to a previous draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Saint Ambrose University, McMullen Hall, 518 West Locust, Davenport, IA, 52803, USA

    Savvas Daniel Georgiades

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  1. Savvas Daniel Georgiades
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Correspondence to Savvas Daniel Georgiades.

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Georgiades, S.D. A Solution-Focused Intervention with a Youth in a Domestic Violence Situation: Longitudinal Evidence. Contemp Fam Ther 30, 141–151 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-008-9067-1

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