The Batterer as Parent is a guide for therapists, child protective workers, family and juvenile court personnel, and other human service providers in addressing the complex impact that batterers - specifically male batterers of a domestic partner when there are children in the household - have on family functioning. In addition to providing an understanding of batterers as parents and family members, the book also supplies clearly delineated approaches to such practice issues as: assessing a batterer's risk to children, including perpetrating incest; assessing a batterer's parenting issues in child custody and visitation evaluation; and evaluating the batterer's impact on children's therapeutic process and family functioning in child protective practice.New to the Second EditionIncreased focus on diversity; updates on race and culture Increased focus on the child's perspective Increased use of tables and figures for illustrative purposesAddition of more cases examplesFeatures and benefits include: Detailed descriptions of the family dynamics engendered by domestic violence.Provides an analysis of the well-established overlap between battering and incest perpetration.The book is grounded in very extensive clinical experience with authors who have been involved in the cases of over 2000 men who batter as counselors, supervisor of other counselors, custody evaluators, and researchers. The book includes detailed, specific recommendations for a wide range of practitioners, including domestic violence professionals, therapists, custody evaluators, family court personnel, juvenile court personnel, child protective personnel, parent educators, and visitation supervisors.
Industry Reviews
"This highly readable, excellent text will serve professionals and students in varied fields who come into contact with families exposed to battering. The background and experiences of the authors are a major strength informing the book. The text is chock full of essential information gleaned from extensive clinical practice. A second major strength is their focus on family climate and dynamics influenced by the batterer, rather than approaching the child-parent relationship in terms of discrete incidents that may have been witnessed by the child. This approach resonates with my clinical experience, while much current research still uses an incident-based approach. I have one leg in the clinical practice world and the other in research/teaching, and from my vantage point it is exciting to read clinical wisdom and experiences summarized thematically that can inspire highly relevant empirical research. I would certainly purchase a copy of the Second Edition for my own professional use, and I wish that it were required reading for professionals intervening with children exposed to batterers, particularly chills welfare professionals." -- Amy Chanmugam