Description: Based on the study of over 2,000 families, the authors provide insights into the phenomenon of violence and what causes Americans to inflict it on their family members. They explore the relationship between spousal abuse and child abuse as well as violence by children against their parents, and the causes and effects of verbal abuse.
Brief description:
Richard J. Gelles is dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds the Joanne T. and Raymond H. Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence. He is the author of The Violent Home: A Study of Physical Aggression Between Husbands and Wives, Family Violence, and Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family.
Review Quotes: "Because of the pioneering work of these authors, we know that battered children become battering parents, that violent criminals were usually abused as children and that the dimensions of family violence are wider than we had ever imagined."