Noting that modern governments have a choice between a deliberate, coherent family policy and one of inconsistency and mischance, this paper presents the family policy of Quebec as a model of a coherent set of measures aimed explicitly at family well-being. This policy, started in the late 1980s, was put into place through the appointment of a…

Domestic violence is the most frequent type of violent crime, thus children are likely to experience or witness violence at home. In this study, familial variables predictive of domestic violence were investigated. Data were collected from 64 intake forms at a battered women's shelter in the Mississippi Delta. Most clients were white and had…

Examines the history of violence in American society, explains some reasons behind these acts, and explores the implications of societal acceptance of violence. While criminologists consider extreme violence to be deviant forms of natural aggression, the paper shows that American society tolerates physical force when expressing political dissent…

Community professionals are dealing increasingly with family conflict and violence but typically have little training in this area. Family dynamics in the causation and consequences of intra-family aggression were studied in a project involving seven groups of community professionals, including lawyers, ministers, physicians, police, nurses,…

While some researchers question whether women can be more vulnerable to sexual assault because of personal characteristics and/or behavioral styles, typical research designs into this question draw on retrospective comparisons of victims and non-victims, making it difficult to determine whether the observed differences are causes, correlates, or…

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…

The Social Integration Scale (SIS) is intended to facilitate empirical research on the applicability of control theory to many types of adult crime, including "street crime," white collar crime, and physical assaults on spouses. There are five subscales: (1) belief (belief in law and social control); (2) commitment (psychological…

This paper constructs a multi-systemic picture of the impact of family violence on children, families, and society through a review of the empirical literature in these areas and their inter-relationships. Findings from the review include: (1) the experience of physical abuse has been associated with aggression toward others, children who have…

A study was conducted to apply and test a model of privacy regulation and disclosure of risky, private information such as sexual abuse. Eight sexually abused children and adolescents, each of whom had initiated disclosure, were interviewed about the disclosure process. A two-part interview was constructed based on the findings in the literature…

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…

The Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) are intended to measure use of nonviolent discipline, psychological aggression, and physical assault in parent-child and other family relationships. The latter two scales provide a basis for identifying psychological and physical maltreatment. Two revisions of the CTS became available in 1996. One, the CTS2 is…

This report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child contains observations of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) concerning the application of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child by the nation of South Africa. Noting that the Convention is the only "mainstream" human rights instrument that…

What happened in the small farm community of Elk Point, South Dakota, on January 8, 1986, was unimaginable--a father shot his family and then walked to work and shot himself. Upon learning of the murder/suicide, the Elk Point School District faced the difficult questions of what teachers should say to students, how the district should deal with…