Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice is an introductory level textbook consisting of ten
chapters on various aspects of family/domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and the
responses of criminal and social justice systems. This book is written from the perspective of
a seasoned criminal justice scholar who was also a former law enforcement officer and group
facilitator for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program. After researching and teaching
domestic violence-related courses for more than 20 years, I have used a few texts that were –
for the most part – more academic than practical. With that in mind, this textbook assumes a
more realistic and pragmatic stance than other related works. Included here are topics rarely
covered – if not totally neglected – in previous textbooks. For example, this textbook devotes
considerable attention to emerging issues such as sibling abuse, elder abuse, and police
responses within the LGBT+Q community. In the process, it features the experiences and
perspectives of criminal justice practitioners, child and social welfare workers, and renowned
scholars across multiple disciplines. One of its major strengths lies in its ability to inform and
promote a contemporary understanding of intimate partner homicide, which is a phenomenon
not only dynamic and complex – but exceedingly difficult to predict. Overall, the degree
of research included in this text will complement efforts to gain meaningful insights into
the overwhelming nature of domestic/intimate partner violence. Even more promising, this
book can potentially enable readers to develop strategies to recognize, intervene, and prevent
various forms of domestic violence.