This section outlines what the literature says about causal factors of family violence and child abuse in Aboriginal communities. While the broader literature on the causes of family violence outside Aboriginal families is not reviewed in detail here, it should be noted that there are strong parallels between the two bodies of literature. For example, Tomison (2000) reports on research which has found that adults (particularly males) who were physically abused while an adolescent and/or who witnessed domestic violence, were more likely to be involved in marital aggression themselves (Straus et al. 1980, Rodgers 1994). Aboriginal writers and commentators also make this link (for example Hazelhurst 1994).

It should be noted that a comparison between the two bodies of literature (mainstream and Indigenous) reveals a marked difference in the ‘ways of knowing’. Mainstream knowledge is generally only reported after (and only if) it has been acquired by a highly structured and defined process of knowledge gathering – via the ‘research method’. In contrast, much of the knowledge coming from the Indigenous community is based on personal and first-hand experience, rather than a structured form of data collection. This knowledge is commonly repeated and confirmed by many people, thus providing the information with some validity. Very little research in the violence area has been done by, or with, Indigenous communities, it is important that the knowledge generated by Indigenous peoples is incorporated into any future attempt to develop solutions to violence.