Heroes of their own lives : the politics and history of family violence : Boston, 1880-1960 /

Gordon's work is a historical account of family violence covering child abuse and neglect, wife beating, and incest from 1880 to 1960. Information was collected from case records of social service agencies, and presents the victims' point of view. The book describes how family violence occurred and how family members as well as social agencies responded and attempted to cope with it. Gordon's central argument is that family violence has been constructed historically and politically for over a century--i.e., what constitutes family violence has varied according to political mood and the force of certain political movements and changing social norms. This much-needed analysis documents that violence/abuse among family members is a painfully old social problem. The author suggests that incidence of domestic conflict has not changed much over the years, but its visibility is now greater. For practitioners in social policy as well as students in the behavioral sciences, upper-division undergraduate level and up. -L. H. Stone, Lamar University

In reviewing the history of family violence since the 1870s, Gordon, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin and author of Woman's Body, Woman's Right, studies clients of three Boston child-welfare agencies through the rich detail of case records. Historically, domestic violence has stemmed not only from sexual inequality, the author finds, but also from individual aspirations and a familial power struggle that reflects changing social values, economic pressures and relations between classes, sexes and generations. Gordon notes that caseworkers handle many kinds of child abuse and neglect by both men and women as well as incest and wife beating. Their response is influenced by varying psychological and social interpretations and by dominant political moods. Several reform movements, notably feminism, have increased public awareness of family violence, especially as concerns battered wives. The book concludes, however, that all forms of abuse are still common, particularly the victimizing of children who cannot seek aid on their own. (March) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A timely study of the treatment of child abuse and neglect, incest, and wife beating over time, using case records of private social work agencies to show real people, not just statistics. Seeking to find what constitutes appropriate intervention, Gordon examines various approaches, e.g., the professionalization of social work in the Progressive era, the 1950s' preoccupation with the nuclear family. Gordon's brilliant analysis of the complex social interaction that characterizes efforts to deal with family violence adds a new dimension to the study of social control. Social historians, social workers, and anyone whose work deals with family violence should read this. Mary Drake McFeely, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This trenchant, persuasive analysis from the author of Woman's Body, Woman's Right (1976) looks at family violence during an 80-year period in which attitudes, not behaviors, changed significantly. Gordon finds that family violence is not more prevalent now, just more frequently challenged. Society's toleration of levels of violence has been modified in response to a variety of forces, including the increasingly publicized realities of battered women, the social consequences of generations of neglected and abused children, greater public willingness to confront sexual abuses (especially incest), and, most recently, feminist analyses of family structure--the legacies of patriarchy. Relying on Boston social-agency records for her data, she uncovers, along with the disdainful and pious tones of agency observers, sure evidence of tangled connections between family violence and the chronic sources of stress associated with poverty. Although in these cases abuses arise most frequently from power struggles for limited resources among those separated or alienated from traditional support networks, there are other salient factors, such as invasion of privacy issues, police and social welfare agency intervention strategies, rule-of-thumb laws, and other policies favoring male dominance. And though psychological aspects are not emphasized here, they are not ignored. In fact, although Gordon seems most practiced in identifying the social, economic, and political pressures of the largely poor, immigrant people represented here, she succeeds remarkably well not only in conveying case history individualities but also in designating those patterns that apply to the population at large. In so doing, she shows how the participants in these often tragic family dramas, along with historical circumstances, helped shape agency perspectives and after popular opinion. A forcefully argued, consistently perceptive documentation. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.