Todd I. Herrenkohl - Böcker

Public and academic interest in youth and community violence has grown with school shootings, horrific cases of child abuse, and reports of domestic abuse becoming regular news features. Research on interpersonal violence has had a corresponding progression, but there is a tendency by researchers to examine these issues at the individual level, rather than considering the micro- and macro-level causes, correlates, and outcomes for those affected directly and indirectly by violence.Edited by four leading violence researchers, Violence in Context takes the more systemic view, offering a critical appraisal of research and theory that focuses on violence in youth, families, and communities. Authors investigate the ways in which violence is defined and understood, how risk and protective factors promote and inhibit violence in the groups most responsible for the socialization of youth, and how violence and related behaviors differ by gender, race, and ethnicity. A rich analysis of the field familiarizes readers with some of the most compelling approaches to violence prevention, including interventions that begin at infancy with families at risk. Every chapter examines the latest research on violence prevention, with a goal of moving towards the multi-system, integrated intervention models and approaches that will incorporate the social context of violence across settings and population subgroups.The result is a valuable interdisciplinary book for scholars, practitioners, and students that provides a comprehensive overview of published studies, limitations of research findings, and a thoughtful discussion of the ways in which future research can build on what is currently known about the causes, consequences, and prevention of violence in different settings.

Pathways to Prevention: Connecting Research and Policy to Reduce Risk for Child Maltreatment foregrounds recommendations for preventing child maltreatment by examining historical and contemporary changes in U.S. social policy and by summarizing research on the causes and consequences of child maltreatment. The book draws on research from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, one of the longest-running projects on child maltreatment in the United States, to bring attention to the ways in which policies and systems have, or have not, evolved to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families.The book begins by tracing the history of U.S. child welfare policy to explain how the original Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of the 1970s came to be and what the writers of this legislation intended. Following this review, the authors introduce the Lehigh Longitudinal Study and other studies of its time to explore how themes in research parallel changes in federal policy. Throughout the book, the authors include recommendations to align research and policy and demonstrate the power of prevention.Written with students, child advocates, and policy makers in mind, Pathways to Prevention will serve as a resource for anyone interested in helping improve the lives of children and families.