The past 20 years of research has exposed the profound cost of intimate partner violence (IPV) in health care problems and health care dollars for victims and bystanders. As a result, professional organizations encourage clinicians to identify IPV victims and to refer them to community resources. To date there is little evidence to show the value…

A key question facing researchers of intimate partner violence is how the real-life contexts of victims' lives should affect state policy. The bulk of recently adopted and much touted criminal justice reforms have taken the form of relatively inflexible, one-size-fits-all mandatory responses focused on counseling, restraining, and punishing…

Purpose: This study assessed the extent of different types of abuse, repeated and multiple abuse experiences among women aged 60 and older, and their effects on the women's self-reported health. Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study of a clinical sample of 842 community-dwelling women aged 60 and older completed a telephone survey about type…

Measurements of intimate partner violence (IPV) based on acts of violence have repeatedly found substantial bilateral violence between intimates. However, the context of this violence is not well defined by acts alone. The objective of this research was to compare differences in women and men within each IPV status category (victim, perpetrator,…

Attributions affect coping with victimization. Battered women who blame their husbands' moods are less likely to leave than are women who blame their husbands' permanent characteristics for the violence. Abused women often have repeated contacts with crisis intervention workers and the attitudes of those workers may affect the attributions made by…

The physical abuse of children is a serious and growing problem. In spite of increasing knowledge and skill in treating physical abuse, many professionals continue to be dissatisfied with the effectiveness of treatment. This study examined the myths and beliefs about abuse and abusers and the theoretical models of cause and treatment that are…

This document reports on the relationship between alcohol abuse and battering. Several theories, e.g., the disinhibition, disavowal, and learned behavior theories concerning the relationship between alcohol abuse and family violence are discussed. Literature on the relationship between alcohol and family violence is reviewed. Five intervention and…

Describes findings on the use of police services by 300 women residing in a shelter, specifically those relating to victim-abuser characteristics, variables that significantly correlate with the victims' contacting the police, and general patterns of police service use by spousal abuse victims. Draws practice implications for police, social…

Refines the behavioral definition of stalking, investigates the role stalking plays in domestic violence, and develops demographic profiles of stalkers and their victims. Results based on information taken from 141 college women show that subjects who reported significantly more abuse during relationships were more likely to be stalked by former…

Uses feminist perspective and problem of wife abuse to illustrate how ideology affects social policy and direct practice models. Warns that society and social work seek to address problem by developing programs to treat victims rather than abusers. Suggests that social work recommit itself to model that focuses on person-in-environment to avoid…

Investigates why some caretakers act to protect their children from domestic violence while others show passivity. Two themes emerged through interviews with 26 women victims of domestic violence who had children: adultification of children, and psychological traps involving the batterer's role in the children's lives. Intervention recommendations…

This report presents findings from a public opinion survey designed to measure beliefs about the causes of domestic violence (DV) based on telephone interviews with 1,200 residents across six New York State communities. Findings reveal substantial diversity and complexity among beliefs and interesting similarities and differences across open- and…

The author used national data to examine the help-seeking strategies of female crime victims. The research has two objectives. First, to determine whether help seeking exists as isolated choices or whether there is a discernable set of help-seeking strategies used by victims. Second, the author examined the effects of race and the victim-offender…

Objective: This paper examines whether exposure to interparental violence in childhood predicts subsequent involvement in interpartner violence and violent crime after controlling for potentially confounding factors. Method: The investigation analyses data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a prospective, longitudinal study of a…

This special issue of a bilingual periodical dedicated to the investigation of women's access to education and to feminist analysis of education and learning presents a variety of stories written by women who have experienced abuse that affected their education. The issue opens with an editorial, presented in full in both French and English, by…