Research Paper on:
Overview of Family Violence

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
be a particularly effective method in which to measure the presence of family violence. Steinmetzs 1977 article that appeared in Victimology started a whirlwind of controversy surrounding the issue  of family violence, inasmuch as the presumption of violence within the family environment had long been place upon the male, while in actuality it was the female who made more  frequent violent contact. Was this due to the fact that she was fending off her violent husband and protecting herself by fighting back? Findings for Steinmetzs article, in  which she claimed that such research indicated a much greater precedence of battered husbands than wives, were based upon the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), a method by which researchers could  measure family violence. However, Steinmetz was accused of biased interpretation based upon the methods findings (DeKeseredy, 2002). Contemporary society relies upon the quantitative aspects of CTS as being "the  most common measure of non-sexual family violence and dating abuse in North America" (DeKeseredy, 2002), consisting of no less than eighteen components that serve to measure three specific ways of  addressing interpersonal conflict within the family atmosphere: reasoning, verbal aggression and physical violence. Categorized by least to worst, the process utilizes a non-violent/violent continuum as a means by which  to determine the escalation of conflict. "Although flawed and highly criticized, the representative sample survey data elicited by the CTS are probably the best available to determine the incidence  and prevalence of spousal abuse in the population at large" (DeKeseredy, 2002). II. IS THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE THEORY AN EXPLANATION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE? The cycle of violence is  one of the most powerful explanations of family violence in todays society. Attitudes, perspective and behavior are all learned by watching others; a child brought up in an abusive