The author notes that family violence is an ideal subject for the application of social psychological theory and research. It draws upon topics familiar to social psychological discourse, including aggression, attitude formation and change, self- perception, social cognition, gender roles, and group processes. The author discusses the biological and social causes of aggression within families and its consequences. Also examined are ways to prevent violence within families as well as to treat it, along with characteristics of families that facilitate or inhibit the use of aggression to solve conflicts. Further, the author investigates how society reacts to aggression against family members and how the reaction has changed over time and varies across groups. The book's focus is on physical violence; sexual and emotional maltreatment are occasionally discussed, but only when relevant to physical abuse. Some of the issues addressed are whether a child who is abused grows up to become an abuser, whether anyone can become an abuser given the right circumstances, why victims of partner abuse stay with the perpetrator, whether perpetrators of family violence should be arrested, the impediments to the successful prosecution of family violence, and why people demean victims of family violence. 485 references and a subject index