Violence Within The Family

Sharon D. Herzberger is professor of psychology at Trinity College.

• Preface, The Incidence of Family Violence, What Do We Mean by "Family Violence"? , Rates of Family Violence, The Validity of Information about Violence, Child Abuse, Spouse Abuse, Sibling Violence, Elderly Abuse, Multiple Forms of Violence in the Family, Violence in the Home versus outside the Home, Universality of Violence against Family Members, Cross-Cultural Variations, Temporal Variations, Concluding Remarks, Attitudes about Violence in Families, Evidence of Tolerance for Aggression against Family Members, Explanations for Tolerance of Aggression, Lack of Empathy for Victims, Belief in a Just World, Illusions about Ability to Prevent Violence, Tolerance of Victimization of Family Members, Variation in Levels of Tolerance of Violence, Variation Due to Context, Variation Due to Gender Roles, Variation Due to Education and Socioeconomic Status, Variation Due to Ethnic, Racial, or Other Cultural Differences Variation Due to Professional Orientation, Variation Due to Characteristics of the Victim and Perpetrator, The Relationship between Attitudes and Behavior, Concluding Remarks, Victims' Reactions to Violence, Victims' Beliefs about Themselves and Their Victimization, Causal Thinking, Learned Helplessness, Problem-Solving Abilities, Perceptions That Their Treatment Is Unusual, Are Victims Masochistic?, Decreased Sensitivity to Aggression, Why Do Abuse Victims Stay?, Fear and Dependence upon the Abuser, Lack of Support from Police and Social Services, Affection for the Perpetrator, Other Victim Reactions, Help-Seeking, Retaliation, Perpetrator Desistance: Which Strategies Work?, Concluding Remark, The Dynamics of Family Life, The Social System of the Family, Parent-Child Relations, Parent Factors, Child Factors, The Interaction between Parent Factors and Child Factors, Relationship to Other Family Subsystems, Spousal or Partner Relations, Perpetrator Characteristics, Victim Characteristics, Couple Characteristics, Inequality, Relationship to Other Family Subsystems, The Prevention and Treatment of Family, Violence, Prevention, Education and Support to Potential Perpetrators, Education and Empowerment of Potential Victim, Changes in the Law, Changes in the Media Portrayal of Violence, Multifaceted Prevention Efforts, Treatment Programs, Determinants of Behavior Change, Therapeutic Interventions with Offenders, Self-Help Groups, Intervention with Victims of Partner Abuse, Intervention with Victims of Child Abuse, Intervention with Victims of Elderly Abuse, Intervention in Cases of Sibling Violence, Individual Reactions to Intervention, Concluding Remarks, References, Index