"I am from the government and I am here to help you" is one of the three biggest lies, or so the old joke goes. Richard J. Gelles, dean of social policy at University of Pennsylvania, explains why government programs designed to cure social ills don't work in sector after sector...and never could work. He demonstrates how each creates its own bureaucracy to monitor participation in the program, an entrenched administrative apparatus whose needs supersede those for whom the program was designed. Against this, he contrasts universal programs such as the GI Bill, Social Security, and Medicare,...

This Fourth Edition of Intimate Violence and Abuse in Families updates a best-selling core text in the field of intimate violence and child maltreatment. New features include: a "Global Perspectives" call-out box for each of the chapters that explore an aspect of research, policy, and practice globally or in another nation; and a separate chapter that examines forms of intimate partner violence other than male-to-female. Bidirectional intimate partner violence and female-to-male violence remain contentious topics in the field of intimate partner violence and rarely receive extensive...