ABSTRACT
Violence between family members has been studied quite separately from the general study of criminal violence. The highest rates of assault and other crime outside the family occurs among persons in multiassaultive families. Social learning theory would seem to be an excellent starting point for examining the links between assaults in and outside of families. The criminal justice system during this time was especially resistant to responding to family violence as criminal violence. The family violence literature produces a very different image of the abusive spouse and abusive parent. Violent criminals are portrayed as inhabiting a different sociodemo-graphic space than violent family members. A consistent theme in the criminology and family violence literatures is the relation between experiencing violence as part of one's family socialization and later antisocial behavior. Research is needed to specify the effects of particular types of exposure to family assault on outside family violence and crime.
