Examines the dynamics, rooted in early trauma, behind the problem of violence committed by children against foster and adoptive parents. Highlights the painful and often hidden dilemmas experienced by such parents and the failure of many child and family practitioners to alert themselves to the problem. Calls for development of therapeutic…

Notes that many children who experience abuse, family disruption, or poverty reach adulthood with a strong commitment to family life. Questions whether changes in American families are indicators of pathology, deterioration, and instability; and asks how dysfunctional families transmit commitment to the concept of family to succeeding generations.…

Violence is a part of daily life in the United States, the world's leader in the number of homicides, rapes, and assaults. This working paper examines the issue of violence in the United States from a gender equity perspective. Gendered violence is reinforced by cultural beliefs that allow individuals and groups to use violence to establish and…

This article presents an interview with Jacqueline Wilson, a popular British author of children's books. Wilson has published 86 books for children and young adults with more than 20 million copies sold in the U.K. alone. Wilson's fans--mostly seven- to 14-year-old girls--love her gripping plots about dysfunctional families, homelessness, and…

Discusses major causes of home and school violence, and ways federal and state legislation, communities, and schools can work to reduce such violence. (BB)

This workbook for delegates to the White House Conference on Families (WHCF) is intended to perform three basic functions: (1) focus attention on the themes of the WHCF; (2) provide brief background information on the issues to be discussed in the Conference workgroups; and (3) summarize recommendations for which there was consensus across most…

Argues that many disabilities among children are increasingly attributable to environmental variables such as violence, poverty, toxic exposure, and family dysfunction. Notes that special education professionals have had primary responsibility for providing specialized services to disabled children and are uniquely qualified to provide resources,…

Using wife battering as a representative presenting problem, this paper presents an interactional, systematic framework of the therapist's management of clients who are involved in life-threatening situations, e.g., cases including suicidal threats, drug abuse, alcoholism, or child or spouse abuse. Several linear-causal theories of addressing…

The author discusses the problems of teenage runaways: abuse which forces many to leave home, violence and sexual exploitation, lack of help from the child welfare bureaucracy. He illustrates with descriptions of several youngsters at his Covenant House crisis center, Under Twenty-One, in New York City. (SJL)

Child abuse is discussed in terms of theory which when realized may lead to more effective primary and secondary prevention efforts. Theoretical explanations of child abuse are classified as either unitary or interactive. Unitary theories (psychological, sociological, and legal views of behavior) are considered deficient; none is capable of…

This lecture, originally given in 1990, begins by recalling the violence committed by the Nazi state and then examines current psychological attitudes which accept and even approve of violence against children in institutions, especially delinquents, severely handicapped children, and infants; and violence within the family. (DB)

Traces changes in social workers' perspectives on the problem of wife abuse. Divides the changes into three time periods: discovering the problem (1976-79); consolidating the perspectives (1980-82); and transforming the problem of wife abuse (1983-84). Concludes increased focus on individual and couple treatment has deflected attention away from…

Reviews literature on child abuse, wife beating, and incest, and examines social and psychological explanations of these problems. Argues that family violence must be considered in the context of power relations and sex and age inequalities. Suggests that research on family violence requires both qualitative, theoretical analysis and empirical…

This compilation contains the verbatim texts of recommendations made by states' delegates from 20 western states participating in the Los Angeles regional conference of the White House Conference on Families. The recommendations are organized by topic for each of the individual states. Topics include the following as related to the family: child…

Reviews factors which contribute to delinquency: among them poverty, unemployment, negative role models, child abuse, and low self-esteem. Presents findings from a three-year study of violence conducted in California and provides information on how to contact the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's clearinghouse on juvenile…