The Haworth Press The medicalization of social problems proceeds apace in this 333-page book. The basic assumption is that health care providers can be trained to recognize, assess, and treat violence. This is a frightening prospect because the history of health care providers who attempt to do that shows a high level of inaccuracy, ineptitude, and an unconscionable level of false positives. There is little or no evidence suggesting that health care providers can be safely entrusted with the task of solving social problems. The book presents without any limits, cautions, or qualification claims about the prevalence and incidence of violence that are, in reality, exaggerated, advocacy numbers, and derive from radical feminist rhetoric. While there may be an interest in raising the consciousness of some people, to do so on the basis of inaccurate information cannot result in positive movement toward solutions. The only chapter that suggests there may be some limits on the information presented is the chapter on satanic, ritual abuse. The author acknowledges that there is no evidence for the existence of organized satanic cults and the worldwide conspiracy. However, having said that, the chapter proceeds to outline the way to respond to satanic, ritualistic abuse. This book must be read cautiously and the claims for prevalence and incidence of violence must be compared to the research data. The confidence in the ability of health care providers to solve social problems has yet to be supported by empirical data. Yet the book gives the full panoply of the claims and assertions of those who would make every problem a medical problem and treat it as an illness. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota.
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