Introduction to this Issue
SPOUSE ABUSE
Each year millions of American women are physically, psychologically andor sexually abused by the men with whom they share intimate relationships. Spouse abuse is one of the leading causes of injury to adult women. The victims of spouse abuse are not only women but their children who witness the abuse and are often directly abused as well. The economic and human costs to society are staggering.
Over the past decade, spouse abuse has jumped to the forefront in law and behavioral science research and practice. The problem is now being addressed by a host of professionals and scientists including, but not limited to, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, sociologists, lawyers, and legal scholars. This volume of Behavioral Sciences and the Law is devoted to this important topic. The coverage here is necessarily selective. Manuscripts were selected for inclusion on the basis of their quality and originality as well as their ability to address a diversity of issues. Topics include attributions of causality; gender stereotyping and treatment of battered women, including severely battered women, in the criminal justice system; marital rape; mediation and child custody in abusive relationships; psychological self-defense as a legal justification for battered women who strike back with deadly force; and the characteristics and treatment of men who batter.