Intimate-Partner-Violence Books

A much-needed perspective on the complexities of family violence which clearly establishes the inappropriateness of the "one size fits all" approach to the diagnosis and treatment of family violence. A comprehensive, readable, lucid, well-structured domestic violence manual that broadens the debate beyond the traditonal patriarchal paradigm, offering instead a gender-inclusive, wholistic approach to domestic violence.

Hamel's approach allows for consideration of intimate partner abuse as a complex problem which may include individual psychopathology and problematic family systems, as well as incorporating what's useful from the feminist paradigm. His approach allows for the tailoring of the treatment to actually suit for the individuals, couples and families involved.

Hamel provides a clear framework for working with different kinds of offenders, including guidelines, techniques, and assessment tools. Its gender inclusive framework is consistent with current research and acknowledges that both men and women are serious victims of partner abuse.

I couldn't recommend this book more highly.

Mr. Hamel's book is a refreshing, much-needed view of the intricacies of family violence. he, hopefully, puts to rest the "one size fits all" approach to the diagnosis and treatment of intimate partner violence. in fact, we in the field had drifted away from diagnosis, assuming that men were always the perpetrators just because they were men! assumptions will not help families struggling with this difficult issue. hopefully his approach will help the lost children whose lives often do not improve if only one parent gets treament.

L. Darlene Pratt MFT CDVD

John Hamel has filled a much needed void in gender abuse understanding. Finally a book that looks at both sexes thru overwhelming research. Great book for the assestment and treatment of partner abuse. There are so many helpful "tools" including marital happiness scale , abuse lethality levels, controlling tactics, anger styles, etc. I highly recommend this book.

At long last, a comprehensive domestiv violence manual that departs from the traiditonal patriarchal paradigm, offering instead a gneder-inclusive, systems approach to domestic violence. John Hamel's book views intimate partner avuse as more than a problem of individual psychopathology, but also as a relationship problem, and he shows that treatment is limited when we fail to treat the entire family.

John Hamel's new book, on gender inclusive treatment of domestic violence, is the most honest and refreshing book I have ever come across. What I most like about John's book is that he doesn't try to be politically correct, but simply shares the facts in a completely honest manner. I especially like the fact that he seriously addresses the need for treating the male "victim" and the female "perpetrator" of domestic violence, which is often minimized by those in the field. I feel that we are finally entering into the 21st century on this topic with John's work. A must read for every domestic violence treatment worker!!

I bought it for a college class and found it pretty interesting to read. If you would like to read about the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system towards domestic violence, this is a great book.

this book is nonsense. it seemed to me that the woman who wrote it is very conservative, privileged, anti-feminist. she also goes out of her way at the end of the book to talk about how she left her abuser to go be with his best friend. why that is relevant, i have no idea. bleh.

anyway, waste of time and money.

Mills' analysis of domestic abuse (and, by extension, the criminal justice system's response to such abuse) is fatally flawed...

I got it. By making an effort to skewer Mills' scholarship and to spam the review cited above, the feminists believe they can suppress an ugly truth: women do commit domestic abuse, and the social and legal systems in many developed countries are an impediment to female abusers coming to grips with that fact.

Mills' scholarship is sound enough to back up her thesis. This alone should compel those who are concerned about the larger issue of domestic violence to ask: why aren't the treatment regimes and criminal sanctions developed over the last 30 years making our society safer for everyone? Mills steps beyond the question of violence against women and looks at the larger issue; she provides what I believe is a good framework for addressing the core issue behind domestic violence, which is getting individuals to take personal responsibility for their actions. No man has a right to hit his wife, and no woman has a right to "defend" herself.

Unlike many Mills' critics, I am writing from experience. Regrettably, my family had a pattern of mutual abuse, and eventually it came to a head. I watched the mechanical processes of the social and judicial systems run roughshod over my dignity, my financial well-being, and break apart my family. During this process, the victim's advocates and the prosecutors patronized my wife and insulated her from the ugly truth that she bore responsibility for her actions.

I do not recommend this book. I feel it is not intellectually rigorous, and makes dangerous parallels between the author's relationship (as a white, college educated woman with financial resources) and the relationships in which women in poverty may experience physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Also it was insensitive to the fact that race plays a role in these dynamics - perhaps the author didn't feel she could speak to this personally; but then her approach should have been much less grandiose and over-arching.

Instead on intimate partner violence, I recommend:
America's Dream. Esmeralda Santiago.
The Turkish Lover.
Black and Blue. Anna Quindlen
Trash. Dorothy Allison
Bastard Out of Carolina.
Push. Sapphire.
Chain, Chain, Change. Evelyn White.

I don't agree with reviewers who say Ms. Mills 'doesn't get' feminism. The problem with people who spend their careers 'getting' feminism (which judging from some of her jargon may include Mills) is that they tend not to 'get' anything else. I think some of the previous reviewers are likely to have this problem. They can quote us 10 types of patriarchy, but have no suggestions for how women can juggle professional and personal satisfaction, or other thing that actually matter.

Unfortunately, most people who laugh at the '10 types of patriarchy; argument leave the conversation right after that, denying women the insight of someone who sees the idiocy of the 'mainstream feminist' approach. Enter Mills, who has clearly spent plenty of time soaking in the petri dish of elite academic feminism but is sharp enough to realize that helping women get what they want starts with listening to them.

In this book, she addresses the unspeakable fact that domestic violence often involves two parties - both are often unhappy, but both are still there. It's earth-shatteringly obvious, but earth-shattering all the same. Mainstream feminists can't bear to face it, but the fact is that often abused women not only stay in abusive relationships and try to keep the cops from being called, but then bail their partners out and refuse to press charges.

You can wonder why, but Mills deals with a bigger question - how can the criminal justice system handle domestic violence in a way that addresses the actual needs of the parties? This doesn't mean sending women back to the wolves, but just realizing that they can speak for themselves and must be listened to.

Contrary to mainstream feminist orthodoxy, the 'violent stranger' approach to domestic violence has not done anything to make women safer, and it needs to be re-examined. I haven't found anyone else talking about this but Mills. If you're at all interested in domestic violence (as a serious problem to be addressed, not a grievance to flagellate the patriarchy over), you have to read this book. Even if you're not particularly interested in domestic violence, but are interested in seeing a discussion about 'women's issues' that deals with issues that actually matter to real women - as opposed to leftist academics married to male versions of themselves - you will find this book enlightening and intellectually exciting.

I Do Not recommend this seller!

The text book I bought was suppose to be shipped from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, and it took 2 weeks! One of the main reasons I bought from this seller was because it should have taken 2 days max to get it. I could have driven to San Fran in an hour and half and gotten the book!

The seller was somewhat responsive to my shipping problem and offered to try and track the book and if it didn't show up by a certain day then a refund would be discussed. Well the book showed up the day before that refund discussion was suppose to happen.

The book however was not in "Great" condition as advertised! When the book finally arrived it was extremely apparant that the book had gotten soaking wet, which may have been from the Postal service but not really sure. The packaging and the book was all damp when it arrived. As the book as dried out as you can imagine all the pages are now warped. The book is also very highlighted and has writing in the margins, which is not was I would expect for a "Great" condition used book. I've bought other "great" condition used books without a speck of highlighting in them and that was what I expected!

After receiving the book 2 weeks later and being dissappointed in the condition of it, I e-mailed the seller and got absolutely NO response back! So thanks a bunch for being a caring seller who advertises "great" condition books that take over 2 weeks to get!

This is a textbook that I need for one of my course for a degree that I am reading in Child and Family Studies. Unlike many other textbooks, this book is worth reading. It is full of very current and updated information and covers a broad spectrum of family violence. A good buy indeed.