Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family ***

Based on a seven-year study of over 2,000 families, Behind Closed Doors is an unprecedented national survey on the extent, patterns and causes of violence in American families. The authors, all leading sholars in the field, focus on violence in the family as a whole, including child and spouse abuse, sibling and elder abuse, as well as verbal abuse. Discussions on their relatinships provide landmark insights into this phenomenon and indicate just how closely physical violence is woven in the fabric of family life.