Abuse in the Family

Designed to help students to understand and deal with the problem of physical and psychological abuse within the family, this text uses an ecological approach.

In this practical, eye-opening book, author Alan Kemp uses an ecological approach to examine the widespread social problem of family maltreatment. By examining the complex relationships that exist on a macro, meso, and micro level, students will be better prepared to make a difference in a world confronted by this colossal and disheartening social problem and to answer the following questions: "Why does family maltreatment occur?," "What do its victims experience?," "How do they recover?," "What can we do to help them?," "How can we understand the perpetrators?," and "How might we reduce or prevent family abuse?"

1. Survey of the Family Abuse Landscape. Family Abuse as a Matter of Public Concern. Family Abuse as a Focus of Professional Attention. Defining Abuses. Using Social Science Methods to Study Abuse in the Family. Systems or Ecological Approaches. Relationships Between Forms of Abuse. 2. Child Physical Abuse. Social and Historical Context. Defining the Problem. Overview of Major Types of Injuries. Psychological Impacts. Intergenerational Transmission: The Violence-Begets-Violence Theory. A
Systems or Ecological Approach to Understanding Risk and Resiliency Factors. Resiliency or Protective Factors. A Special Category of Child Physical Abuse: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. 3. Child Psychological Maltreatment and Child Neglect. Child Psychological Maltreatment. What is Psychological Maltreatment? What Do We Need to Know About Psychological Maltreatment? Child Neglect. 4. Child Sexual Abuse. The Problem. The Victims. Models of Victimology and Emerging Trends. 5. Child Maltreatment: Investigation, the Courts, and Intervention. Reporting Suspected Child Maltreatment. Child Protective Services Investigation and Interviewing Procedures. Risk Assessment. Initial Intervention by CPS. Juvenile Civil Court Action - Dependency Proceedings. Social Service Intervention. Child Abuse and Criminal Proceedings. False Memory/Repressed Memory Controversy. Problems, Issues, and Trends in Intervention. 6. Sexual Offenders. Types of Offenders. Psychiatric Diagnosis and Sexual Offenders. Profile Models. The Four-Factor Offender Model. The Addiction Model. A Special Class of Offenders: Children and Adolescents. Concluding Comments About Sexual Offenders. Intervention and Treatment. 7. Domestic Violence. A Brief Look at the Historical Context. What Is Domestic Violence? A Working Definition. How Common Is Domestic Violence? Incidence and Prevalence. The Controversy About the Rate of Male and Female Domestic Violence. What Is the Impact of Battering on Its Victims? The Cycle of Violence. Why Do Women Stay? Explanations and Risk Factors. Classifying Perpetrators. Intervention. 8. Elder Maltreatment. Historical Context. What is Elder Maltreatment? How Big Is the Problem? What Are the Indicators of Maltreatment? What is The Impact of Elder Maltreatment? Explanations and Risk Factors. Efforts to Deal with Elder Maltreatment.
References. Index.
(Each chapter concludes with a Chapter Summary)