NCJ Number
95876
Editor(s)
S Saunders,
A M Anderson,
C A Hart,
G M Rubenstein
Date Published
1984
Length
263 pages
Annotation
This guide to assessment, intervention, and therapy for violence-prone individuals and families and victims of violence addresses assessment and prediction of violence, origins of violent behavior, and a wide range of treatment strategies.
Abstract
Links between vengeance and violence in the family context are discussed, as is a family therapy approach to treating violence among family members. A review of methods for assessing the potential for violence in clients highlights statistical and clinical research and then outlines a seven-step method for evaluating dangerousness. In the victimology field, the book considers appropriate responses of health care professionals to victims of violence and generic crisis intervention with victims of assault. Other chapters deal with problems encountered by professionals who must handle violent patients. Areas examined include assessment, intervention in emergency situations, managing violence in acute care psychiatric hospitals, and pharmacotherapy. Several behavioral approaches for treating aggression in residents of institutions for the emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded, as well as research data demonstrating their effectiveness, are described. Other chapters propose a cognitive-behavioral approach to therapy with abused children and their families, discuss reasons underlying the increase in abuse of elderly persons by relatives, and offer guidelines for counseling in such relatives, and offer guidelines for counseling in such situations. The final chapter provides a conceptual framework for developing a training program for mental health professionals who work with violence-prone individuals. References accompany each chapter. An index is included.