ISSUES AND DILEMMAS IN FAMILY VIOLENCE

Table of Contents

Introduction

Issue 1: How can we describe, study, and stop violent behavior taking place within the family when privacy is one of our most precious rights?

Issue 2: If violence is learned behavior, who teaches it?

Issue 3: Is it abusive to spank a child?

Issue 4: Why don't battered women just take their children and leave?

Issue 5: When parents separate after an abusive relationship, shouldn't fathers have as much right as mothers to be granted physical custody of and visitation rights with their children?

Issue 6: Is it possible to have delayed memories of being sexually abused as a child?

Issue 7: Are mandatory reporting laws helpful or harmful to families?

Issue 8: How much do emotions influence what professionals know and do about violence in the family?

Issue 9: How does society want policy to respond to family violence?

Issue 10: Does mandated treatment work?

Issue 11: Is abuse an excuse?

Issue 12: Should practioners be concerned about legal risks when they work with family violence?

APA Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family