In this decade, the pervasiveness of wife abuse across all segments of society has become more evident to the public, leading to a redefinition of it as criminal. This social change, based on the collective response of feminists, battered women's advocates, and legislators, has altered laws on family violence in some 43 states. While new laws…

Survey information shows that sexual abuse of children is widespread, being reported by 19% of the females and 9% of the males in the sample. Most sexual victimization took place within the child's family, not with strangers, as "child molesters" have traditionally been stereotyped. While the problem cuts across social and economic lines, it seems…

A study investigated the nature of reading difficulties from the perspective of sixth graders in a low-income school district on the border of New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. R. C. Bogdan and S. K. Biklin (1992) describe this style of research as an attempt to gain entry into the conceptual world of subjects to understand what meaning they…

Most child abuse has a violent quality. A review of the research on child abusers reveals some interesting psychosocial and historical characteristics. Research has shown violence to be more likely in less stable populations, in persons with poor driving records and histories of severe accidents, and in those who are undereducated and unsuccessful…

This paper notes recent evidence suggesting that couples characterized by violent interactions respond best to therapy when seen first in individual therapy sessions. Clinicians are then presented with a Gestalt therapy approach to intervening in cases of intimate violence that goes beyond crisis intervention. The focus is on the female's roles in…

This document contains 11 papers from the ninth World Conference of Therapeutic Communities (TCs) that deal with women's issues, family systems, and the TC. Papers include: (1) "Families in the Eighties" (Cecil Williams); (2) "Women, Work & Substance Abuse" (Lois Morris); (3) "The National Federation of Parents"…

While research has identified several factors related to female domestic violence victims, the cross-sectional methodologies used make it difficult to determine whether these factors predispose the individual to victimization. This study used a longitudinal design to assess the predictive power of indices of economic, social, and psychological…

A differentiation between two types of self-blame, behavioral and characterological, has been suggested. Behavioral self-blame is control-related and pertains to attributions made to one's behavior, while characterological self-blame is esteem-related and involves attributions made to one's character. To assess the efficacy of separating the…

Although previous research has attempted to account for the incidence of physical violence between dating partners, little attention has been devoted to the relationship factors that may account for the occurrence of violence between partners. To examine the relationships among violence and dating partners' love and liking, commitment to the…

Many questions about how couples construe violence between intimate partners remain unanswered. In order to examine the "labeling" of violence, attitudes about intimate violence, and victims' reactions to assault, 125 undergraduate students completed a three-part questionnaire, including a Battering Empathy Scale (BES), a section…

Evidence is accumulating that experiences of children within the violent family are fundamental causes of the continuing problem of family and societal violence. To examine attitudes and values as a function of experience with family violence, 114 male undergraduate students completed a questionnaire assessing general demographics, and several…

This study specifically explored the relationships among childhood trauma, long-term psychological consequences, beliefs about family violence, and gender role stereotypes in Asian and Asian American women. A prediction was made that childhood physical violence and witnessing family violence would create long-term negative symptoms; higher levels…

A characteristic common to differing forms of violence within families is the abuse of power. This study explored adolescents' understandings of power and control in marital relationships. Adolescents' reports of witnessing conflict and violence between their own parents were also considered as a context within which beliefs about power and…

A survey of 1,080 senior economics majors at 48 colleges and universities in the United States is reported. Questionnaires were administered in classes, by mass mailings, or through economics clubs. Although institutions were selected to provide a representative distribution of respondents, variations in response rates created too few participants…

The effects of childhood physical and sexual abuse on the development of alcoholism in women was examined by comparing 127 alcoholic women in treatment with two comparison groups. One comparison group was comprised of 83 nonalcoholic women in mental health treatment or receiving services for battering. The second comparison group consisted of 92…