Introduction

This introduction places the volume’s contributions into a reflexive analytical framework. It starts with a brief discussion of anthropological and sociological approaches to the family, and it follows the thread of family violence, its variety of forms, and its transformations in the light of fast social change, by introducing analyses that concern a range of Pacific Islands countries and societies (French Polynesia, Hawai’i, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu). The second part of the introduction briefly revisits the volume’s chapters to reflect on the challenge of defining violence and applying this concept to family relations and to social worlds where norms and values differ greatly.