The 7 parts of the this book present 15 chapters that discuss background issues regarding the cultural context of family violence, theories of abuse, the types and extent of abuse in America, Native American Indian cultures, African-American cultures, Hispanic/Latino cultures, Asian-American cultures, and abuse prevention and intervention strategies. Part I comprises three chapters that focus on the main issues and definitions of family violence, the methods used to study family violence, the theories generally used to explain family violence, and the types and prevalence of family violence in the United States, including child maltreatment, spousal maltreatment, and elder maltreatment. Part II presents two chapters that address family violence in Native American Indian cultures, focusing specifically on the role of oppression and racism in Native American Indian family violence, the scope of the problem, and the predictors, correlates, and consequences of family violence in Native American Indian communities. The three chapters in Part III focus on family violence within African-American cultures. These chapters discuss perspectives of abuse within African-American cultures as well as risk and protective factors and the scope and consequences of child maltreatment, spousal maltreatment, and elder maltreatment. Part IV contains three chapters that explore how the cultural values within Hispanic/Latino cultures either support or protect against family violence. Issues involving migration, discrimination, and acculturation are confronted and the specific incidence and characteristics of child maltreatment, spousal maltreatment, and elder maltreatment within the Hispanic/Latino community are examined. The two chapters in Part V focus on family violence issues within Asian-American cultures, specifically in terms of how their unique cultural values serve as either risk or protective factors to family violence. Part VI comprises two chapters that discuss prevention and intervention in both child and adult types of maltreatment from a cultural perspective. Tables, references, indexes