Interpersonal Violence in the African-American Community: Evidence-Based Prevention and Treatment Practices (Issues in Children's and Families' Lives)

The prevalence of violence reported for the African-American community continues to pose a significant concern to society as a whole and, in particular, to those charged with reducing it. Confronting the issue head on, Interpersonal Violence in the African-American Community: Evidence-Based Prevention and Treatment Practices both challenges existing stereotypes of African Americans and offers concrete, state-of-the-art advice on approaches that are currently – or may soon prove to be – effective with African-American populations.

The contributors to this volume offer unique insights gained through their extensive individual experiences in family violence prevention and intervention within the African-American community as well as their backgrounds in writing, teaching, training, and researching in this area. Taken together, their chapters expand the knowledge base on such topics as the:

• Most useful and appropriate assessment tools for preventing violence in this community.
• Developmental effects of the child welfare system on African-American youth.
• Salient aspects of the extended family on African Americans, including grandparents acting as surrogate parents.
• Strengths and limitations of African-American churches in curbing domestic violence.
• Effective use of spirituality in interventions.
• Guidelines for evaluating prevention and intervention programs.

Interpersonal Violence in the African-American Community is essential reading in a variety of professional and clinical settings – as well as graduate-level study – including social work, clinical child, school, and developmental psychology, couples and family therapy, shelters, and victim assistance programs.

Robert L. Hampton is one of the founders of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community. He has served as President of York College (CUNY), Associate Provost and Dean at the University of Maryland, College Park, as a research associate at Children’s Hospital in Boston and the Harvard Medical School. He has published extensively and spoken about the issues of interpersonal violence in minority communities.

Thomas P. Gullotta is C.E.O. of Child and Family Agency and is a member of the psychology and education departments at Eastern Connecticut State University. He is the senior author of two textbooks: Today’s Marriage and Families: A Wellness Approach, and the 4th edition of The Adolescent Experience. Tom is the co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion, and co-editor of Handbook of Evidence-Based Approaches for the Treatment and Prevention of Challenging Behaviors in Adolescence. He is the editor emeritus of the Journal of Primary Prevention, the senior book series editor for Issues in Children's and Families' Lives, and holds editorial appointments on the Journal of Early Adolescence, The Journal of Adolescent Research and the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. He has published extensively on adolescents and primary prevention. Tom was honored in 1999 by the Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association with their Distinguished Contributions to Practice in Community Psychology Award.