Family Abuse And Violence

For undergraduate and graduate students, Miller and Knudsen (sociology and women's studies, Purdue U.) provide a text that addresses the problem of family abuse and violence in the US, analyzing child, partner, and elder abuse. They first present a conceptual framework that integrates research in subfields with research studying them as dimensions of a single problem, calling it the Family Abuse and Violence Episode perspective, which integrates social theories and represents a new method for examining intragenerational and intergenerational abuse. Their method concentrates on the social context and considers historical studies and types of abuse. Other chapters address medical, legal, and social problems, child sexual abuse and exploitation, definitions and perceptions of victims and perpetrators, dating and intimate partner violence, and neglect. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

JoAnn Miller is associate professor of sociology and an affiliated member of the Women's Studies faculty at Purdue University.Dean D. Knudsen received his PhD in sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is associate professor at Purdue University.