ABSTRACT
Reports from perpetrators, survivors, witnesses, professionals, and researchers often differ on what happened and whether the situation can be defined as family violence. This variance in views adds to the debates on how to address family violence. The underlying fears are that the conflicting views will lead to family and community members' blaming survivors of family violence, exonerating the abusers, and becoming entangled in issues that they cannot resolve. Differences as to what had happened and would happen and what actions should be taken were evident in the case of family "F" referred to the Family Group Decision Making Project for a conference. Conferencing for the F. family and other participating families meant that they had existing legal measures to protect their safety. Conferencing helped to reduce the distance between the family and various service providers and promoted a greater sense of partnership to stop family violence.
