ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on characteristics and circumstances within the realm of social causes. It discusses that not everyone whose life circumstances point in the direction of violence is violent. The chapter argues that there is no difference between the “ordinary” violence of family life and the instances of wife-beating and child abuse which capture public attention. Men with low to middle scores on the husband-violence checklist have about the same rates of wife-beating as men with low to middle scores on the full item checklist. The Child Abuse “Prediction” Checklist identifies parents with rates of child abuse that range from none to thirty-three per hundred children. The large difference between the abuse rates of fathers and mothers points to the importance of looking at other things which might differ for child abuse by men and women. The Child Abuse “Prediction” Checklist was also able to identify parents who are completely free of physical abuse toward their children.
