Now Available: OUR NEW BOOK

Book cover: Preventing Domestic Violence and Child AbusePreventing Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Legal. Medical, Social and Faith-Based Strategies for Protecting Children and Families

By Barry Goldstein, Mo Therese Hannah, and Veronica York

Our new book has been published and is available to change the custody courts and the widespread harm they cause. The book is called Preventing Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Legal, Medical, Social and Faith-Based Strategies for Protecting Children and Families. It is based on our belief that the ACE (adverse childhood experiences) Studies offer a similar opportunity to the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report linking smoking and cancer. ACE tells us that exposure to DV and child abuse causes cancer, heart disease, and many other health and social problems.

Many different parts of society helped discourage smoking and in doing so saved millions of lives and trillions of dollars. Preventing DV and child abuse offers the same opportunity. We spoke with the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and the CDC about their work to prevent smoking and their work to reduce DV and child abuse. We believe courts and legislators would be more likely to listen to the research that supports protective mothers if the information is coming from these highly respected organizations.

In 1961, the Cancer Society and two other health organizations wrote a letter to President Kennedy informing him about research linking cancer and smoking. President Kennedy asked the Surgeon General to create a committee to study the problem. This led to the Surgeon General’s Report and all the subsequent efforts that have reduced smoking resulting in enormous health and other benefits.

The book has chapters by experts in a variety of fields and communities. They discuss past harmful practices and what has and can be done by each community to prevent DV and child abuse. The United States spends over $3.6 trillion dollars to tolerate domestic violence. At the start of the DV movement in the 1970s, society came together will many reforms that made it easier for victims to leave their abusers. This led to a steady decrease in DV homicides. Abusers and the cottage industry responded by developing tactics to regain what they believe is their right to control their victims by manipulating the family courts. Tragically, the courts have failed to update their practices or integrate the research that would make it easier to recognize and respond to DV and child abuse. As a result, abusers are often successful in custody cases. This makes it almost impossible for victims to escape and exposes children to multiple ACEs. The family court failures have reversed the DV homicide rate so that women are now murdered by their partners at a rate greater than when the DV movement started.

We are excited to publish this book from Civic Research Institute because it could be the start of a major response to prevent DV and child abuse to gain the human and economic benefits. The same kind of social change we did with smoking. The book is now available.

When Barry taught in a batterer program, the director, Phyllis B. Frank often mentioned that our opponents often complained, "You just want to change the world." She would always answer, "Yes!"

That is the goal for our book.

Preventing Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Legal, Medical, Social and Faith-Based Strategies for Protecting Children and Families

Preventing Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Legal. Medical, Social and Faith-Based Strategies for Protecting Children and Families

By Barry Goldstein, Mo Therese Hannah, and Veronica York

BAD NEWS: GOOD NEWS: EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES

Bad News:

  • The failure of custody courts to recognize DV and child abuse or to protect children is responsible for a huge increase in DV homicides.
  • DV and child abuse are far more harmful and long-lasting than previously understood including causing significant increase in cancer and heart disease.
  • The United States is spending $3.6 trillion annually ($11,000 per capita) to tolerate domestic violence.

Good News:

  • The bad news can provide a huge incentive to create the needed reforms.
  • The book offers numerous examples of communities using best practices to dramatically reduce DV crime including homicides.
  • The book provides the reforms custody courts need to stop abusers from manipulating courts to regain power and control.
  • The book tells us how law enforcement, faith-based communities, sports world, media, and child protective agencies can do their part to prevent DV.
  • The authors provide a new approach to alienation that removes the present bias and relies on evidence-based approaches.
  • The American Cancer Society and American Heart Association know they can reduce cancer and heart disease by preventing DV and child abuse.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES:

We have a successful model for changing a common behavior causing grave harm. Just as the authors of this book expose the full harm caused by DV and child abuse, in 1964, the Surgeon General's Report linking cancer and smoking exposed the full harm from smoking. Some of the initial press reports talked about the huge wealth and power of the tobacco industry that would make significant change impossible. But many different parts of society came together to defeat the tobacco lobby to prevent cancer, heart disease, and other tragedies.

As a result, just in the United States, we saved over 8 million lives and trillions of dollars. We urge you to think about how much better our lives are because of the courage, foresight and caring of the millions of people and organizations that worked to prevent smoking.

Many of us were able to spend many more years with our loved ones because of the movement to prevent smoking. Our book demonstrates we can do the same thing to prevent DV and child abuse. We know how to stop abusers from manipulating our custody courts. We know how to dramatically reduce DV crime including murder. The benefits can be similar to what we gained by reducing smoking. This is an answer to an economy where so many people are struggling. It is an answer to the huge cost of health care that prevents many people from receiving the treatment they need to live. It is an answer to the many talented people who never get a chance to reach their potential. And it is an answer to the children cruelly taken from their mothers by custody courts that still aren't using the research needed to recognize and respond effectively to DV and child abuse. And it is an answer to the mothers, many of whom are friends of the authors who had to bury their children that the courts failed to protect.

You can purchase the hardback and paperback editions here:

Hardback Edition Paperback Edition
Preventing Domestic Violence and Child Abuse - Paperback

 

 

 

GOLDSTEIN & YORK DV Experts, LLC