Issues in Intimate Violence

Designed specifically for undergraduate students, Issues in Intimate Violence provides a comprehensive and accessible anthology that prepares the foundation for understanding a wide range of violence that commonly occurs in families and between intimates. This collection of 22 scholarly yet readable chapters represents a variety of disciplines from both a theoretical and an applied approach. Many articles offer a feminist perspective that addresses the gendered nature of violence and the consequences of power inequality in our society. Created to make learning about intimate violence an accessible and cohesive process, each section is introduced by editor Raquel Kennedy Bergen and concludes with discussion questions.

A variety of violence topics are included:

• Child abuse

• Incest

• Violence in heterosexual dating relationships

• Violence in gay and lesbian relationships
• Acquaintance rape
• Wife abuse and wife rape
• Elder abuse

While primarily directed to undergraduate students, this book is also well-suited for similar courses at the graduate level and will appeal to anyone working with survivors of intimate violence as well as the interested lay reader.

Raquel Kennedy Bergen is a Professor of Sociology at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received her BS from Saint Joseph’s University in Sociology and her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author or co-author of numerous scholarly publications and nine books on violence against women including, Wife Rape: Understanding the Response of Survivors and Service Providers; and Issues in Intimate Violence. With Claire Renzetti and Jeff Edleson she edited, Sourcebook on Violence Against Women and Violence Against Women: Classic Statements. She co-edited Violence Against Women: Readings from Social Problems with Claire Renzetti. She is the current Chair of Gender Studies at Saint Joseph’s and the faculty moderator for the Rape Education Prevention Program. Her area of expertise is sexual violence in intimate partnerships and she regularly provides workshops around the country to domestic violence and rape crisis programs to address this form of violence. She has volunteered as an advocate for battered women and sexual assault survivors for the past 27 years. Her current research continues in the field of violence against women―analyzing the intersection of women’s experiences of physical, sexual and emotional violence with their partners during pregnancy.