Violence and Sexual Abuse at Home: Current Issues in Spousal Battering and Child Maltreatment

Violence and abuse that occur behind closed doors are not just personal concerns or issues. Family violence is a major mental health, social service, health care, and criminal justice problem that society cannot continue to ignore. Violence and Sexual Abuse at Home gives you the facts of spouse/partner and child maltreatment, an analysis of the intervention and prevention techniques commonly used, and alternative approaches and theories for understanding and reducing instances of family abuse.The factors behind maltreatment are multiple and diverse. Because there are so many approaches to treating perpetrators and victims, choosing a treatment strategy can sometimes feel overwhelming. Use Violence and Sexual Abuse at Home to help you decide which treatment models will be most effective in particular situations. Don’t risk low success rates with your patients. This comprehensive guidebook can help you refine your treatment strategies, as you better your understanding of:

• mutual combat
• the ethical issues and legal mandates involved in reporting family maltreatment
• biological issues and aggression
• the causes of the physical maltreatment of children
• maltreatment of children with disabilities
• the debate surrounding “parent alienation syndrome”
• difficulties in diagnosing incest offenders
• the impact of child sexual maltreatment on the survivor’s sexuality and sexual functioning
• the repression, dissociation, and delayed recall of traumatic eventsViolence and Sexual Abuse at Home shows clinicians, researchers, advocates, and other professionals the importance of broadening their perspectives of all types of family maltreatment. Anyone working with people who abuse and/or with adults and children who are or have been abused should understand the developmental, social, psychological, cultural, and biological issues at play in violent home environments.

Susan Sorenson, Paula Lundberg Love