Understanding Domestic Violence not only highlights and reexamines the different challenges that we continue to face in effectively addressing issues of domestic violence but provides innovated approaches to interventions that are more in keeping with the complex nature of domestic violence. This book provides a comprehensive and multifaceted examination of conditions and factors involved in domestic violence, including psychological, sociocultural, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic issues.

The authors look at domestic violence through the trauma lens and intersectionality to develop intervention strategies within that context. Statistics and clinical examples from the field highlight unique culturally-based issues related to domestic violence among Latino, African American, and Arab Muslim communities, issues with woman perpetrators, and violence in the LGBTQ community, to name a few. In the end, Understanding Domestic Violence offers opportunities for the reader to engage in further discussion of the poignant issues discussed in the book, with the invitation to become part of the solution. 

Rafael Art. Javier is a professor of psychology and director of inter-agencies training and research initiatives, director of the postgraduate professional development programs, and the director of the postdoctoral certificate programs in forensic psychology at St. Johns University. He is also a faculty member at the Object Relations Institute. He is the editor-in-chief for the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research and the past co-editor of the Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless.

William G. Herron is a retired professor at St. Johns University and was the director of the school psychology program and founding coordinator of the clinical psychology PhD program. He earned his PhD from Fordham University. A devoted writer, Dr. Herron has published 12 books. He has a practice in New Jersey.

Preface
Acknowledgments
A Timeline of Relevant Events of Domestic Violence Regulations in the United States
1 A Look at Domestic Violence through the Trauma Lens: An Introduction
Rafael Art. Javier and William G. Herron
I: Conceptual Framework
2 Domestic Violence in all Its Contexts: An Issue for all Cultures, Races, Genders, and Classes
Rafael Art. Javier, William G. Herron, Gerald A. Pantoja, and Jennifer De Mucci
3 Overview-Aggression, Domestic Violence, and Risk Factors
William G. Herron and Rafael Art. Javier
4 On the Clinical Applications of the General Aggression Model to Understanding Domestic Violence
Wayne Warburton and Craig A. Anderson
5 A Psychodynamic Theory of Domestic Violence
William G. Herron and Rafael Art. Javier
6 Twenty-First-Century Medeas, Medusas, and Salomes: Violence Female Style
June F. Chisholm and Kristy Magee
II: Challenges and Interventions: Domestic Violence in Ethnic and Cultural Contexts
7 Family Maltreatment and Domestic Violence among Arab Middle Easterners: A Psychological, Cultural, Religious, and Legal Examination
Fatimah El-Jamil and Naji Abi-Hashem
8 Crucial Considerations in the Understanding and Treatment of Intimate Partner Violence in African American Couples
Carolyn M. West
9 Understanding Domestic Violence within a Latino/Hispanic/Latinx Context: Environmental, Cultural, and Ecological Mapping as a Culturally Relevant Assessment Tool
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers, Fred Millán, and Clare Jinzhao Zhao
III: Treatment Intervention Issues
10 Victimized and Disabled: Neuropsychological Issues at the Intersection of Gender and Ethnicity
Martha E. Banks
11 The Impact of Stigma on Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Implications for Counseling
Christine E. Murray and Allison Crowe
12 Essential Elements for an Effective Treatment Model of Domestic Violence in a Complex World
Lenore E. A. Walker and Tara Jungersen
IV: Conclusion
13 The Complex Nature of Domestic Violence: Possible Causes and Solutions
Rafael Art. Javier, William G. Herron, and Michelle Yakobson
Glossary
Appendix A: Resources for Domestic Violence Intervention
Appendix B: Legal Precedents
Index
About the Contributors
About the Editors

This comprehensive volume offers the clinician a treasure trove of statistics, theory, insight and approaches to dealing with domestic violence. It is a must-have book for the clinician’s personal library.
— Athena A. Drewes, director of Clinical Training, Astor Services for Children and Families

Javier and Herron present a comprehensive text on the assessment and treatment of intimate partner violence. The book offers perspectives on the dynamics of abuse, with focused attention on diversity issues. The chapters are informative, practical, and easy to read and could be used in family violence and couples therapy courses.
— Gregory Canillas, PhD, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

For professionals who deal with domestic violence (DV), this volume is an ideal new tool. Its chapters describe evidence-based resources to understand, prevent, and reduce DV while also offering unusual features not found in other volumes, in a carefully crafted volume that is the state of the art in coping with DV.
— Harold Takooshian, PhD, past-president, Division of International Psychology, American Psychological Association

This edited book takes a unique perspective by dealing with topics that we do not usually see in the domestic violence field. Including disabilities, the intersection of ethnic and cultural factors, and treatment approaches from a trauma informed lens is an excellent combination to focus on that helps move the field forward.
— Robert Geffner, founding president, Institute on Violence, Abuse & Trauma, San Diego, CA