Includes bibliographical references and index.

The invention of the pathological family / Judith Allen -- Domestic violence, cases before Chamber Magistrates / V. Johnson, K. Ross, and T. Vinson -- Domestic violence and sex and class inequality / Carol O'Donnell and Heather Saville -- Women who kill husbands / Wendy Bacon and Robyn Landsdowne -- Refuges / Heather Saville -- Domestic violence, the police response / Jocelynne A. Scutt -- Domestic violence, the legal responses / Penelope Stratmann -- Domestic violence, social solutions / Maria Girdler -- Incest and the reproduction of the patriarchal family / Carol O'Donnell and Jan Craney -- The social construction of child abuse / Carol O'Donnell and Jan Craney.