Child abuse, sexual and domestic violence are among the most destructive experiences afflicting women and children. The wide prevalence of such violence takes an enormous toll on the lives of individual victims as well as the larger society, through innumerable behavioral, health, psychological, and economic consequences. While many groups, organizations, and government agencies have been established to identify, prevent, and treat such violence, our response to these problems has been piecemeal and not optimally successful. A coordinated, cross-disciplinary synthesis of what we know, how we...

Child abuse, sexual and domestic violence are among the most destructive experiences afflicting women and children. The wide prevalence of such violence takes an enormous toll on the lives of individual victims as well as the larger society, through innumerable behavioral, health, psychological, and economic consequences. While many groups, organizations, and government agencies have been established to identify, prevent, and treat such violence, our response to these problems has been piecemeal and not optimally successful. A coordinated, cross-disciplinary synthesis of what we know, how we...

Across this two-volume set, chapter authors provide scholarly reviews and in-depth analyses of subjects within their areas of expertise. Themes of status and power inform many chapters. Volume 1 begins by outlining the emergence of the psychology of women and its connections with the women's movement. This is followed by feminist critiques of theory, descriptions of innovative methodologies, and discussions of difference and similarity, both between women and men and between gender and sexuality. The social and economic contexts surrounding these issues are reviewed, as are dichotomies...