This research brief summarizes a study that investigated whether the diverse cultural makeup of many communities requires the criminal justice system to modify its approach, particularly in handling immigrants. The study examined whether immigrant victims have more difficulty than other victims in dealing with the police and courts because of…

This article provides an overview of partner violence research as it pertains to incidence, partner abuse typologies, etiology/explanation, and treatment. Developmental and integrated models for explaining and treating partner abuse are given particular consideration. (Contains 129 references.) (GCP)

Discusses the dynamics of domestic violence between partners of the same sex. The social and cultural issues in the gay and lesbian communities play a large part in perpetuating the myths of domestic violence, which keeps the abuse hidden. This article is based on an extensive review of the literature and a clinical consensus among experts in the…

Tests a model of couple violence drawn from several theoretical perspectives. The outcome distinguishes among nonviolent couples and those experiencing either physical aggression or intense male violence. According to the model, background characteristics of couples are related to relationship stressors, which affect the risk of violence via their…

Presents a family systems perspective on wife battering and treatment implications for mental health counselors. Focuses on the processes and interrelatedness between events and people in a battering relationship. Discusses some of salient literature on wife battering from an individual perspective and suggests that future models and theories…

Notes that many children who experience abuse, family disruption, or poverty reach adulthood with a strong commitment to family life. Questions whether changes in American families are indicators of pathology, deterioration, and instability; and asks how dysfunctional families transmit commitment to the concept of family to succeeding generations.…

Compares 27 confirmed cases of physical child abuse requiring hospitalization to 105 confirmed cases that did not require hospitalization. Results indicate a significant relationship between the age of the abused child and whether the child was hospitalized. Children under three years were most likely to be hospitalized. (BB)

Responds to previous articles by Avis, Kaufman, and Bograd on role of marital and family therapists in dealing with family violence among clients. Considers articles' emphasis on neutrality, asserting that abusers must both be understood and held accountable. Discusses shortcomings of previous articles and concludes that multiple approaches are…

Presents a group treatment model using Thought-Feeling-Action (TFA) Systems, an offense- and offender-specific group treatment for abusers. Describes use of TFA Systems in group of court-referred male spouse-abusers. Reviews evolution of TFA Systems, then focuses on TFA Systems treatment of spouse abusers. Notes that system can be adapted to other…

Discusses psycholegal issues involved in intraspousal and interfamily law suits. Delineates six categories of lawsuits. Suggests that conflicts in families are already fairly extreme when adult children sue parents and that family lawsuits often make rifts irreparable. (Author/CM)

Recent research suggests that social workers who deal with family violence are often unaware of the coexistence of both spouse abuse and child abuse within families. Implications of this research for the professional practice of service providers who deal with domestic violence and for child welfare professionals are outlined. (MDM)

Explores how domestic violence is related to personal control. Finds that individuals who have initiated violence against a partner do not differ from individuals who have nonviolent relationships in feelings of personal control. Experiencing violence at the hands of a partner has more significant adverse effects on sense of personal control for…

Discusses the limitations of current databases documenting the prevalence and effects of child exposure to domestic violence and describes a model for the collection of reliable and valid prevalence data, the Spousal Assault Replication Program, which uses data collected by the police and university researchers. (SLD)

A women's shelter and hospital emergency department collaborated on a universal screening process for domestic violence. Implementation barriers included lack of time, space, and privacy; more serious barriers were nurses' personal feelings and lack of information about domestic violence. Interdisciplinary preservice and inservice training were…

This study examined the relations among early and recent experiences with abuse, depression, and adolescents' autobiographical memory in a longitudinal study of family violence. Participants' (N = 134) exposure to violence was documented when they were 6 to 12 years old and again when they were 12 to 18 years old. The second assessment included…