Routledge Domestic Violence: Intervention, Prevention, Policies, and Solutions

Domestic violence does not begin the day an adult heterosexual male decides to beat and batter an adult heterosexual female. Domestic violence is a complicated and multifaceted enigma that includes child, sibling, spousal, intimate partner, and elder abuse. Despite spending billions of dollars on domestic violence, the number of some categories of victims remains the same. The problem can be traced back to our very definitions of victim and abuse. Until we open our eyes to the blatant empirical evidence and come to some agreement on a basic platform, this pervasive crime will not diminish. Domestic Violence: Intervention, Prevention, Policies, and Solutions presents a rational and reasoned perspective that emphasizes evidence-based information rather than ideologically held beliefs. It challenges the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures and introduces 10 recommendations for change. The book summarizes many important federally sponsored reports and provides unique meta-analysis styled empirically based overviews of contemporary research and intervention efforts. It also supplies print and web-based national and state specific resources and references to studies and organizations that will be updated online. Topics addressed include historical and current explanations of battering behavior, the importance of the accurate and unbiased identification of victims, differences and the implications of those differences in reporting rape and sexual assault, and the understanding of risk factors. It considers the fallacy of ideological advocacy and presents legislation and policies in Colorado and California as cases in point. In particular the author explores the prevailing notion of the predominance of female victimization over male victimization. Injecting a voice of reason into a highly emotional debate, this outstanding volume clarifies our convenient delusions and allows us to re-appraise this sensitive issue and effect a positive and progressive outcome.