Non- Violent Resistance (NVR) training for parents offers an attractive alternative to traditional parent training based on social learning principles. Originally proposed by Haim Omer and inspired by the civil rights movement in America and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, there is much to entice systemic practitioners. Omer bases his work on the theoretical construct of pattern of interaction and specifically of symmetrical and complementary escalation originally proposed by Gregory Bateson. His approach aims to prevent escalation by replacing with parental presence and persistence in opposition to a child’s violence, ideas that fit comfortably with attachment theory. Inclusion of support for parents from the wider system is also congruent with systemic understanding that recognizes that a problem is not wholly located in the parent-child relationship and strengthening positive bonds supports change in both parties. If you add in the overarching principle of opposing violence as a broader principle there seems little to dislike. When an approach is appealing philosophically and theoretically does that guarantee that it is effective?
What Do We Know of its Effectiveness?
While there have been attempts to demonstrate the validity of the approach, much of the work has been done by Omer or those working directly with him, relying on self-report measures, case studies and small sample sizes. While the results are encouraging, a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative outcomes of NVR interventions by Awoyemi et al (2025) is welcome.
The Review
The authors sourced one hundred and eighty-four full text papers and after application of inclusion criteria, nineteen were selected for review including five randomised controlled trials, two simple ‘before and after’ studies, two qualitative studies, one study reporting mixed outcomes and nine articles including a case report. This amounted to information from nearly four hundred families with outcome data collected from parents in all but one study which used clinician report and none from children. The participants included birth, adoptive or foster parents with children exhibiting externalising symptoms such as ADHD and/or substance misuse. Three studies explored parents’ experience of the approach.
What Did They Find?
While the review did ‘show promise in improving parent-reported child behavioural difficulties, such as externalising symptoms and some evidence that parents’ feelings of helplessness, stress and parenting behaviours improved, maintenance of long-term change was not established.
The authors expressed reservations about the studies, noting that reports of change were almost exclusively collected from parents, with only one study using a clinician-rated scale. Data was not collected from other professionals including teachers and social workers which may have produced different results. Parent efficacy, behaviours and stress were enhanced, but long-term benefits were not assessed. Social supports for parents may have been bolstered but the small sample size of these studies leaves this a question.
In Conclusion
NVR remains a potentially useful tool when working with children and young people with challenging behaviours. However, there is work to be done to confidently promote this intervention in preference to others. Given the different application across studies it is unclear which components are most effective, and a lack of data on long-term outcomes. There is also a paucity of feedback from children and whether there are unexpected risks or consequences that are not apparent in the current data. It’s certainly not time to reject NVR but we do need to know more before we can confidently promote it as the gold star approach to children’s difficulties.
Awoyemi, B., May, L., Ranjitha David, R., Majumder, P. and Kapil Sayal, K. Quantitative and qualitative outcomes of Non-Violent Resistance interventions for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural difficulties and their caregivers – A systematic review Adoption & Fostering 2025, Vol. 49(2) 204–226
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