Crisis intervention type services were initiated in the Battered Women's Shelter in Fayetteville, Arkansas with the purpose of assisting children with their immediate distress and possibly preventing repetition of the violent patterns within families. Services were provided by volunteers or hired staff as funding allowed. The families the shelter…

Clinical approaches to child sexual abuse have been constrained by limited knowledge of the family dimensions of the problem. This study compared the psychiatric responses of women with and without sexual abuse histories to disclosures of their children's sexual abuse, and assessed the relationship of these histories to the nature of the child's…

An attempt is made to integrate existing theories of family violence by introducing the concept of family role stress. Role stressors may be defined as factors inhibiting the enactment of family roles. Multiple regression analyses were performed on data from 190 families to test a hypothesis involving the prediction of negative discipline at…

This study examined differences between maltreated and non-maltreated children in their perception of parental figures and explored differential perceptions of maternal and paternal figures. Using the Test for Detection of Parental Violence (TDPV), 22 maltreated 4- to 7-year-olds referred by Youth Protection Services were compared to 22…

This report presents cross-sectional data on the relationships of alcohol difficulties, antisocial behavior, family conflict, family violence, and, particularly, spousal violence. The data were derived from a large-scale, longitudinal study of causes of alcohol abuse and the development of patterns of family violence. Subjects in the part of the…

This study examined the social interactions and emotional adjustment of 21 preschool children of battered women and 25 same-age children from nonviolent homes. Mothers rated the frequency of their emotional and physical abuse during the past year, their mental health, parenting qualities, and their child's adjustment. Two observers evaluated the…

This study presents cross-sectional data on physical aggression toward children and child aggression toward parents from the initial data set. (The study was part of a large-scale, longitudinal study of the etiology of alcohol abuse and the development of family violence.) Subjects for the study were 91 families with sons between 3 and 6 years of…