The AEI Press Description: This 278 page edited volume includes fifteen chapters, a
short afterword, and notes for each chapter. The editor, Douglas J. Besharov,
organized and held a conference on family violence research March 20 to 23,
1987. The chapters are presentations made at the conference. The delay from 1987
to the publication in 1990 does not mean the material is out of date. The
conference and the book appear to be aimed at letting administrators,
bureaucrats, and policy makers know the state and nature of research on family
violence. Several chapters also contain suggestions for future research needs
and are useful for those who decide what proposals get funded and for those who
write proposals for grants. The material is not outdated because the status of
family violence research and the direction for future research remain the same
today as in 1987. Contributors include two administrators of programs and two
program evaluators. Their brief contributions illustrate the thinking and
concerns of those who have their hands on the levers of finance. The remainder
of the chapters are summary statements of theories and approaches to research
problems. Discussion: The description of the problems with the research currently available is the same as is seen in almost all reviews of research literature. There is no overriding theoretical position that can bring the diverse studies into some kind of coherent picture. There is poor definition of the variables. In this book several chapters complain vehemently about the lack of an accepted definition of family violence. Quite correctly, with no such operational definition available, it is impossible to know or understand what the various research studies may actually demonstrate. Small sample size, lack of controls, inadequate measurement and sloppy conceptualization are repeatedly said to be major problems in the research literature on family violence. This book provides a grim summary of the cogent and necessary criticisms that can be made about the conduct of research bearing on social problems. Two contributions, Chapters 1 and 13, are critical of the basic approach of quantitative and empiricist research. They call for research that is not limited by considerations of empiricism or positivism. Chapter 13, by Dobash and Dobash, describes the plight of the administrator or social change agent who cannot wait for rigorous, empirical data but must act now. Neither of these chapters, while pungent in their criticism of methodological limitations, recognize the danger that policy actions based upon inadequate or mistaken data may turn out to be in error. This might well be how the law of unintended consequences is invoked and generates unforeseen difficulties. Another illustration of this is Chapter 14 which describes the impact and the fate of a specific research program, the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Project. In a candid and open discussion, extra-scientific or nonresearch oriented considerations are shown to affect how research is presented and consumed by policy makers. Factors like budgets, maintenance of careers, and preservation of the bureaucracy enter into crucial decisions and research may be seized to further such interests as well as to advance the state of knowledge. This book is a useful compendium of the interaction between the social sciences and policy makers and implementers in the society. It also demonstrates the good will and compassion of many administrators. However, the complex and little-understood interaction between science and the society, scientists and bureaucracy, and the bureaucracy and the politicians may continue to frustrate and impede the exercise of good will. The question in the title of Chapter 12, "Is Violence Preventable?," is answered, "Yes," by the two program evaluators. It is a noble hope. The essence of Greek tragedy is that good people set out to accomplish good and noble ends but the outcomes are evil. The pursuit of social change in admittedly desirable and positive directions may well remain inscrutable if not intractable. Nevertheless, our humanity requires that we make the effort. This book serves that purpose. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota 55057.
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