Abstract
In Recent decades it has become increasingly apparent that violence affects a significant proportion of families in the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics 1983). Violence, in fact, is becoming a defining characteristic of American society. A recent comparison of the rates of homicide among 21 developed nations indicates that the United States has the highest homicide rate in the world, and its rate is more than four times higher than the next highest rate (Fingerhut and Kleinman 1990). What is even more alarming is the high incidence of violent death and injury for children and adolescents in the United States. Acts of violence are the cause of death for over 2000 children between the ages of 0 and 19 years each year, and more than 1.5 million children and adolescents are abused by their adult caretakers each year (Christoffel 1990).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 96-118 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Psychiatry (New York) |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1993 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dante Cicchetti is at the Mt. Hope Family Center, Department of Psychology, University of Rochester. Michael Lynch is at the Mt. Hope Family Center, Department of Psychology, University of Rochester. Address reprint requests to: Dante Cicchetti, Mt. Hope Family Center, 187 Edinburgh Street, Rochester, NY 14608. We wish to acknowledge the Kenworthy Swift Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Spunk Fund, Inc., for their generous support of our work. We also want to thank Diane Larter, Katherine Sosin, and the Monroe County Department of Social Services for their ongoing commitment to improving the quality of life for maltreatmg families. Finally, we want to thank Sheree Toth for her helpful suggestions and Donna Bowman for typing this manuscript.
