NCJ Number
84573
Editor(s)
R B Stuart
Date Published
1981
Length
315 pages
Annotation
Eleven essays by leading researchers and clinicians demonstrate the utility of the social learning approach for understanding and treating violent behavior.
Abstract
An overview of violence emphasizes interaction between social and psychological forces in the etiology of violent behavior. An analysis of gang violence extends clinical assessment models to naturalistic surroundings. Such research has important implications for mental health programs and social policy planning. Some essays focus on violence within families, with topics including the identification of interaction patterns in families where at least one child has been abused and a feminist perspective of domestic violence, particularly wife rape. Pioneering research studies on the prevention of rape and child molestation demonstrate the use of precise measures of sexual response in pedophiles to determine exactly what characteristics of a victim or situation are arousing and present data on the relationship between varied victim responses and the sexual and violent proclivities of rapists. A program for training police officers to intervene in domestic violence teaches officers to be front-line mental health paraprofessionals who may prevent more serious family violence. Other essays address intervention issues directly as they discuss (1) a program for managing aggressive behavior in an institution for delinquent and predelinquent youth, (2) the use of drugs and environmental planning to manage violence in mental hospitals, and (3) a clinical behavior modification program to help patients develop alternatives to violent behavior. Tabular data and references accompany each essay, and subject and name indexes are provided. (Publisher abstract modified)