This expanded book version of a special issue of the journal Violence and Victims analyzes the social and cultural factors that influence violent behaviors. The editors and contributors discuss the latest findings and gaps in current research and theory in order to gain valid theoretical bases to investigate and control violent behaviors. Topics include cross-cultural studies of interpersonal violence, gender variations in violence across societies, a cross-national analysis of violence by and against women, and regional differences in homicide rates in the United States. Researchers, academics, and other professionals in sociology, criminology, and psychology, as well as students in these fields will find this book a welcome addition to their collection.

This Encyclopedia is the definitive resource for students, researchers and practioners needing further informationon various aspects of interpersonal violence, including different forms of interpersonal violence, incidence and prevalence, theoretical explanations, public policies, and prevention and intervention strategies.

Interpersonal violence has many faces and many names - domestic violence, child abuse, school bullying. Anger, Aggression, and Interventions for Interpersonal Violence reveals what clinical scientists know and what mental health practitioners can do about interpersonal violence. To advance the way professionals conceptualize interventions for violent clients, contributors consider the complex relation between anger and aggression and discuss how that relation affects treating various forms of interpersonal violence. Should treatment focus on anger, on aggression, or on both? Does that decision depend on the form of interpersonal violence, or does the anger-aggression relation suggest a core set of intervention principles and strategies? Readers are provided up-to-date, detailed discussions as well as focused commentaries, all written by internationally known researchers. This volume will serve as a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners alike.

Understanding Victims of Interpersonal Violence: A Guide for Investigators and Prosecutors provides accessible information for criminal justice personnel "in the trenches" with victims of violence to aid in understanding and explaining their behavior. This guide sheds light on interpersonal violence victims’ decisions and actions by providing context and naming factors that commonly impact victim responses. These include internal factors such as culture, religion, shame, and personality, as well as external factors like access to services, support systems, and resources. These factors inhibit or facilitate responses like disclosure, resistance, and participation (or lack thereof) in the prosecution of the offenders. This book also explores the influence of the perpetrator, as well as more deeply examining victim responses that typically offer challenges to investigators and prosecutors; for example, continued contact with the offender, lack of resistance, and issues in disclosure. Finally, the guide provides concrete tools to assist investigators in interviewing and for prosecutors to use during the prosecutorial process. This book is designed for investigators, prosecutors, advocates, criminal justice practitioners, and students of these subjects.

There is an increasing appreciation of the interconnections among all forms of violence. These interconnections have critical implications for conducting research that can produce valid conclusions about the causes and consequences of abuse, maltreatment, and trauma. The accumulated data on co-occurrence also provide strong evidence that prevention and intervention should be organized around the full context of individuals’ experiences, not narrowly defined subtypes of violence. Managing the flood of new research and practice innovations is a challenge, however. New means of communication and integration are needed to meet this challenge, and the Web of Violence is intended to contribute to this process by serving as a concise overview of the conceptual and empirical work that form a basis for understanding the interconnections across forms of violence throughout the lifespan. It also offers ideas and directions for prevention, intervention, and public policy. A number of initiatives are emerging to integrate the findings on co-occurrence into research and action. The American Psychological Association established a new journal, Psychology of Violence, which is a forum for research on all types of violence. Sherry Hamby is the founding editor and John Grych is associate editor and co-editor of a special issue on the co-occurrence of violence in 2012. Dr. Hamby also is a co-investigator of the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), which has drawn attention to polyvictimization. Polyvictimization is a focus of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Defending Childhood Initiative and has recently been featured in calls for grant proposals by the Office of Victims of Crime and National Institutes for Justice.

This volume examines social influences on violent events and violent behavior, particularly concentrating on how the risks of violent criminal offending and victimization are influenced by communities, social situations, and individuals; the role of spouses and intimates; the differences in violence levels between males and females; and the roles of psychoactive substances in violent events.