Violence in the Family : An Integrative Approach to Its Control

In this issue of IJOTCC, three articles address violence in the family, including domestic violence, intrafamilial child molestation, and intimate partner homicide. In this editorial, I suggest an integrative approach toward the classification of the perpetrators of such violence that would allow the various disciplines that do research on this topic to integrate their findings and find a better approach to the problem. The fields of forensic psychiatry and psychology are well aware of the phenomenon of family violence, not only because of their knowledge of the suffering of the adult members of the family but especially because of the devastating effects of family violence on the psychosocial development of the children. Indeed, the aggressive behavior of children learned at home is reinforced by their often successful acting out in school or with their peers. Teenagers, especially, show this behavior as a means to express their assertive views within their groups—of the same or opposite sex. That creates a vicious circle, because at a certain point the victims, no longer tolerating the abuse, will retaliate in self-defense or retreat into emotional escapism.

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