Breaking Apart Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse

Book excerpt: Breaking Apart Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse provides a thorough examination of intimate partner violence and abuse, encompassing the nature, influences, and impact of its presence in interpersonal relationships. By "pulling together" representative studies and other evidence-based analyses by researchers and interventionists, this comprehensive overview surveys the prevalence, patterns, and common risk factors among a number of demographics, including women, men, transpeople, partners in opposite- and same-sex relationships, teen dating partners, later-life partners and abused partners with disabilities. The authors also disentangle – that is, "break apart" – the factors of race, class, gender, sexuality, gender expression and culture by exploring their effects on experiences of intimate partner violence and abuse perpetration and victimization. Although less scrutinized in current literature on the topic, discourse and institutional barriers to abused women’s well-being and safety are also delved into, particularly those exacerbated by rural isolation, non-national status and theologies. The authors supplement their in-depth overview by highlighting protective measures and resources throughout, identifying treatments and public health approaches to violence and abuse intervention and prevention, as well as incorporating discussion exercises and illustrations that extend the book’s concepts into real-life settings. In their exploration of the forms, causes, prevalence, and consequences of intimate partner violence and abuse among different groups, the authors address the problem with both nuance and scope. Combined with their evidence-based recommendations, the book offers valuable insight for students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of domestic and family abuse and intimate partner violence.