Richard J. Gelles

Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145 Families

The informative and controversial findings in this book are based on two path-breaking national surveys of American families. Both show that while the family may be the central locus of love and support, it is also the locus of risk for those who are physically assaulted. The book provides a wealth of information on gender differences and similarities in violence, and on the effects of gender roles and inequality. Two landmark American studies of violence from the National Family Violence survey form the basis of this book. Both show that while the family may be the central locus of love and support, it is also the locus of risk for those who are being physically assaulted. This is particularly true for women and children, who are statistically more at risk of assault in their own homes than on the streets of any American city. Physical Violence in American Families provides a wealth of information on gender differences and similarities in violence, and on the effects of gender roles and inequality. It is essential for anyone doing empirical research or clinical assessment.

Societal change and change in family violence from 1975 to 1985 as revealed by two national surveys

Comparisons between two national surveys conducted in 1975 and 1985 on the rates of physical violence against children and spouses are presented in this article. The sample consisted of 2143 families in 1975 and 3520 families in 1985. Findings showed that 1) physical child abuse decreased by 47% from 1975 to 1985; 2) wife beating decreased by 27% while severe assaults declined by 4.3%; and 3) despite these reductions the rates of child abuse and wife beating remain extremely high. The lower rates of severe violence in 1985 are attributed to several factors such as 1) differences in methodology used 2) reluctance of the respondents to report violence and 3) a decrease in the amount of child abuse and wife beating. The policy implications of the reductions and of the continued high rate of child and spouse abuse were discussed in the last part of this paper.

The Dark Side of Families: Current Family Violence Research.

Introduction - Abridged Contents Violence against Wives Physical and Sexual Abuse of Children Marital Rape Toward a Theory of Intrafamily Violence An Appraisal of Current Issues

Verbal aggression by parents and psychosocial problems of children.

Analyses of data on a nationally representative sample of 3,346 American parents with a child under 18 living at home found that 63% reported one or more instances of verbal aggression, such as swearing and insulting the child. Children who experienced frequent verbal aggression from parents (as measured by the Conflict Tactic Scales) exhibited higher rates of physical aggression, delinquency, and interpersonal problems than other children. This relationship is robust since it applies to preschool-, elementary school-, and high school-age children, to both boys and girls, and to children who were also physically punished as well as those who were not. Children who experienced both verbal aggression and severe physical violence exhibited the highest rates of aggression, delinquency, and interpersonal problems.

Violence in the Family: A Review of Research in the Seventies.

This paper reviews research on family violence in the seventies. The issue of family violence became increasingly visible as a social and family issue in the decade of the seventies. Whereas research in the sixties tended to view domestic violence as rare and confined to mentally disturbed and/or poor people, research in the seventies revealed family violence as an extensive phenomenon which could not be explained solely as a consequence of psychological factors or income. Students of domestic violence grappled with the problems of defining abuse and violence, sampling problems, and measurement issues as they focused their efforts on measuring the incidence offamily violence, the factors related to violence in the family, and the development of causal models to explain family violence. The review concludes by discussing research needs and future issues in the study of violence in the family.

A profile of violence toward children: a national study

This paper presents a profile of violence toward children in the United States, based on the results from the Second National Family Violence Survey. A national probability sample of 6,002 households was surveyed by telephone in 1985, of which 3,232 households had at least one child under 18 years old living at home. Minor violence, or physical punishment, was most common among mothers, caretakers 18 to 37 years old, fathers who were unemployed, caretakers with blue-collar occupations, households with two to four children at home, and among caretakers who used alcohol and other drugs, male children, and children 3 to 6 years old. The highest rates of abusive violence occurred in families located in the East, families whose annual income was below the poverty line, families where the father was unemployed, families where the caretakers held blue-collar jobs, families with four or more children, caretakers who used drugs at least once, male children, and children 3 to 6 years old. Logistic regressions were done to examine the predictive value of these variables.

The Utility of Male Domestic Violence Offender Typologies New Directions for Research, Policy, and Practice

The development of empirically based behavioral and psychological typologies provides clear evidence that offenders vary across types. A review and synthesis of the literature reveals three types of batterers common across current typology research—a low, moderate, and high-risk offender. Examination of these types demonstrates that most male offenders do not escalate over time from low to high levels of risk. This observation refutes previous claims regarding a common consensus among researchers that battering escalates in frequency and intensity over time. There are particular characteristics specific to each type that establish thresholds distinct to each classification. Thus, it is unlikely that an offender will move from one type to another. Interventions targeted to address the needs of subsamples of offenders can lead to more effectively protecting those most at risk for future violence. Addressing the issue of woman battering through the prism of typologies has significant implications for research, policy, and practice.

Violence, Battering, and Psychological Distress Among Women

Descriptive and clinical accounts of wife abuse consistently report a high incidence of depression and anxiety among samples of battered women. However, these studies all suffer from methodological shortcomings such as nonrepresentative samples, small sample size, and lack of comparison groups. This study corrects many of the methodological shortcomings of previous studies and analyzes reports of psychological distress among victims of violence and abuse by examining data from the Second National Family Violence Survey. A national probability sample of 6,002 households comprised this survey. The examination of the effects of violence is based on an analysis of the information provided by 3,002 female respondents who lived with their husband or male partner, or who had been separated from their husband or male partner less than 12 months at the time of the interview. Women who reported experiencing violence and abuse also reported higher levels of moderate and severe psychological distress. Multivariate analysis indicated that violence made an independent and nonspurious contribution to the psychological distress experienced by women.

Violence and Pregnancy: Are Pregnant Women at Greater Risk of Abuse?.

This paper examines whether pregnant women are at special risk of being victimized by their husbands and partners according to the data of the Second National Family Violence Survey. Telephone interviews were conducted with individuals in 6002 nationally representative households. Violence and abuse were measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Results showed that the rates of minor severe and overall violence were higher in the households where the wife or female partner was pregnant at the time of the interview. Pregnant womens risk of minor violence was 28.3% while the risk of abusive violence was 60.6%. Findings also showed that the large differences in rates of violence experienced by pregnant women compared to nonpregnant women are greatly reduced when age was controlled age of female respondents and age of male respondents. It indicates that women under 25 years of age are both more likely to be pregnant and to be hit and abused by husbands and partners. From the study intervention and prevention strategies should be developed to protect pregnant women and their unborn children.

The Book of David: How Preserving Families Can Cost Children's Lives

A dangerous world sentinels - monitoring child safety investigation and risk management unreasonable efforts the failure of family preservation children first.