Preventing Family Violence

Book excerpt: Some families are dangerous environments. Most practitioners in social work, child protection, and hospital and community medicine, as well as the police, will know from their professional experience the extent of spouse abuse, child abuse, sibling violence and maltreatment of the elderly within the family setting. Understanding family violence is the first step towards prevention. This book deals with the nature and causes of abuse within the family, with its prediction and assessment, and with methods for intervention and prevention. Reflecting the research evidence of cycles of violence and maltreatment, the book is organized as a progressive analysis of abuse of spouses, children, siblings, parents and family elders. The authors are both well known for their academic and professional work with families, and have written this book for professionals requiring a research- and evidence-based (rather than anecdotal) guide to the problems of family violence and to the best practice in related intervention work with families and couples. This book is published in the Wiley Series in Family Psychology edited by Neil Frude, University of Wales, Cardiff.