ABSTRACT
The subordinate status of women in American society, and in most of the world's societies, is well documented. The Overall Violence row of Part C indicates whether a parent used any of the eight forms of violence at least once during the 12-month period covered by the survey. It shows that there was essentially no change in the rate of violence between 1975 and 1985. The decrease in child abuse and wife beating may reflect a "moral passage", as family violence becomes less acceptable and consequently fewer parents and fewer husbands are willing to admit to participating in violence. The history of Western society reveals that children have been subject to unspeakable cruelties, including the abandonment of infants to die of exposure. National media campaigns, new child abuse and neglect laws, hot-lines, and almost daily media attention have transformed behaviors that were ignored for centuries into major social problems.
