As this author traveled around the country, many university professors and domestic violence advocates told him that prosecuting or even intervening with social services is morally "wrong" in cases in which parents fail to protect their children. There are two problems with these arguments. First, these arguments assume that mothers should "never"…

Plenary session papers from a workshop focusing on how the health professions might provide better care for victims of violence and prevent violence itself comprise this document. Papers include: (1) "Welcome and 'Charge' to the Participants" (C. Everett Koop); (2) "Interpersonal Violence and Public Health Care: New Directions, New…

This digest familiarizes counselors with the four major types of child maltreatment: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation, and emotional abuse or neglect. A definition is provided for each, along with relevant symptoms and statistics. The subsequent discussion focuses on identifying maltreatment and on counseling abused children.…

Child advocates have succeeded in getting child abuse recognized as a serious social problem requiring governmental response. Ironically, this success now threatens the viability of child abuse programs: 65 percent of all reports are ultimately dismissed. This flood of unfounded reports violates parental rights and overwhelms the limited resources…

Child abuse and neglect (CA&N), as a social and psychological phenomenon, represents a major area of concern internationally. This study examined the prevalence and self-reported effects of CA&N in Iran through a descriptive investigation of high school students' experiences. A sample consisting of 2,240 high school students representing 5…

This report details the challenges that immigrant women in the United States have faced since the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. It presents a compilation of research and synthesis by immigrants' rights activists and organizations. Data come from immigrant women's testimony. The following topics are featured:…

Synthesizes theoretical and empirical findings about psychological responses to traumatization across survivors of rape, childhood sexual or physical abuse, domestic violence, crime, disasters, and the Vietnam War. Describes five major categories of response and presents new theoretical model for understanding individual variations in victim…

Objective: Studies show that childhood sexual and physical abuse predict repeated suicide attempts and self-mutilation. Little is known about the importance of sexual and physical abuse when compared to other severe childhood adversities with respect to chronic suicidal behavior. Method: Seventy-four subjects, 65% of whom were women, consecutively…

This study examines the natural course of trauma-specific symptoms 6 months after disclosure. Furthermore, this study investigates whether severity and type of abuse (intrafamilial or extrafamilial sexual abuse), negative appraisals, coping strategies, and crisis support measured at time of disclosure can be predictive of trauma symptoms 6 months…

In order to identify differences in risk factors for suicide attempts throughout adolescence, this study utilized a school-based survey of ninth (n = 1,192) and eleventh graders (N = 1,055). Suicide attempts were associated with cigarette and alcohol use, family violence, and depression for ninth graders and with illicit drug use, school violence,…

This newsletter supplement is devoted to the theme of domestic violence affecting migrant women. It contains four articles describing programs providing violence prevention education to migrant women and children. "Family Violence and Migrant Women: Implications for Practice" (Rachel Rodriguez) discusses the social isolation of migrant women;…

This publication offers some insight into the problem of violence in Canadian schools and provides examples of ways to reduce it. The forms of violent activities examined include youth/youth-gang violence, violence against teachers, bullying, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Each chapter presents research findings and examples of programs…

Pursuant to a bill passed by the Iowa legislature requiring training for mandatory reporters of child abuse, this manual addresses the fundamental issues of identifying and reporting child abuse. Chapter 1 is an overview of the history of child abuse and how the current system of reporting has evolved. Chapter 2 is a basic primer on the physical…

This publication presents papers from a 1982 child sexual abuse conference sponsored by the Colorado State Department of Social Services, designed to identify major issues and trends and to stimulate the exchange of perspectives and practices among persons concerned about preventing and treating child sexual abuse. The first section of the…

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…