NCJ Number
157980
Date Published
1995
Length
314 pages
Annotation
This book provides information and resources to help clergy understand family violence and respond appropriately to it in the context of both secular awareness and religious concerns.
Abstract
Thirty-one chapters and an epilogue focus on various aspects of family violence, including violence against women by male partners, the abuse of elderly persons in the home, and child abuse. In the opening chapter, a pastor outlines a basic approach to counseling an abused woman who asks for help, including advice on the limitations of pastoral counseling in an abuse case. This is followed by a letter from a battered wife that profiles her ordeal and the failure of her attempts to obtain help from her pastor, doctors, a friend, the police, and a family guidance agency. A table then lists the various aspects of physical, sexual, financial, verbal, and emotional abuse in the family. A presentation of myths and facts about domestic violence is followed by a review of elements to be considered when evaluating the life-endangering potential in a domestic violence situation. Other topics considered are the prevalence, outcomes, and policy implications of violence against women by male partners; guidelines for talking to abusive husbands; a checklist for identifying a battering relationship; why battered women return to an abusive relationship; the role of alcohol abuse in domestic violence; Asian-American patriarchies; and an African-American perspective of battered women. Also discussed are spousal abuse in rabbinic and contemporary Judaism, the Christian abused woman, Hispanic-American battered women, the corporal punishment of children, and a biblical and theological perspective of the transformation of suffering. Chapter notes