Working from a range of theoretical perspectives, contributors to this text challenge prevailing stereotypes of women as passive or resistant participants in heterosexual interaction and men as initiators or aggressors. Like men, the book proposes, many women are clearly interested in sex and some are sexually aggressive. Bringing attention to ethical, political and conceptual questions surrounding this area of inquiry, the volume offers insights that seek to enhance clinical work and set directions for future research. It should be of interest to all scholars and students of psychology, sociology, human sexuality, and gender studies as well as mental health professionals in a range of settings.

The negative interactions that take place between dating and courting partners, most notably physical aggression and sexual exploitation, are explored in this volume. The authors blend qualitative interviews with current research findings.

Sexual aggression is a pervasive societal problem with devastating and sometimes permanent effects on its victims. Approximately one in four adults has been either a victim or perpetrator of sexually aggressive behavior. Until now, a disproportionate amount of attention has been paid to victim-based methods of prevention with a corresponding lack of emphasis on the perpetrators of sexual aggression, whose rate of recidivism is quite high. As psychologists and mental health professionals turn their attention to the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders, the need for practical, scientifically based information on sexual aggression has become clear. In this book, Gordon Hall offers suggestions based on state-of-the science theory and research. Using the Quadripartite Model of sexual aggression to provide a framework for causes and possible solutions, it breaks new ground by proposing preventive intervention with potential perpetrators. It is a valuable resource for anyone involved in mental health, criminology, and the judicial system.

Pornography and Sexual Aggression

"In our sex-saturated world, how can parents address the dramatic upswing of sexually forward girls in hot pursuit of their young sons? ... [The author] offers a solution to this unsettling cultural trend. Through seven guided "Talk about it" conversations, what-if scenarios, and honest responses to questions from real-life parents, Dennis Rainey offers a detailed guide on teaching your adolescent son to set boundaries and pursue the right kind of girl"--P. [4] of cover.

Violence against women is one factor in the growing wave of alarm about violence in American society. High-profile cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial call attention to the thousands of lesser-known but no less tragic situations in which women's lives are shattered by beatings or sexual assault. The search for solutions has highlighted not only what we know about violence against women but also what we do not know. How can we achieve the best understanding of this problem and its complex ramifications? What research efforts will yield the greatest benefit? What are the questions that must be answered? Understanding Violence Against Women presents a comprehensive overview of current knowledge and identifies four areas with the greatest potential return from a research investment by increasing the understanding of and responding to domestic violence and rape: What interventions are designed to do, whom they are reaching, and how to reach the many victims who do not seek help. Factors that put people at risk of violence and that precipitate violence, including characteristics of offenders. The scope of domestic violence and sexual assault in America and its conequences to individuals, families, and society, including costs. How to structure the study of violence against women to yield more useful knowledge. Despite the news coverage and talk shows, the real fundamental nature of violence against women remains unexplored and often misunderstood. Understanding Violence Against Women provides direction for increasing knowledge that can help ameliorate this national problem.

The new celebration of women's aggression in contemporary culture, from Kill Bill and Prime Suspect to the artists group Toxic Titties. In the past, more often than not, aggressive women have been rebuked, told to keep a lid on, turn the other cheek, get over it. Repression more than aggression was seen as woman's domain. But recently there's been a noticeable cultural shift. With growing frequency, women's aggression is now celebrated in contemporary culture—in movies and TV, online ventures, and art. In Push Comes to Shove, Maud Lavin examines these new images of aggressive women and how they affect women's lives. Aggression, says Lavin, need not entail causing harm to another; we can think of it as the use of force to create change—fruitful, destructive, or both. And over the past twenty years, contemporary culture has shown women seizing this power. Lavin chooses provocative examples to explore the complexity of aggression, including the surfer girls in Blue Crush, Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect, the homicidal women in Kill Bill, and artist Marlene McCarty's mural-sized Murder Girls. Women need aggression and need to use it consciously, Lavin writes. With Push Comes to Shove, she explores the crucial questions of how to manifest aggression, how to represent it, and how to keep open a cultural space for it.