Book Review: Violence: From Theory to Research

• Author: Robert N. Baker
• Published date: 01 September 2006
• Date: 01 September 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016806292928
• Subject Matter: Articles

on standard instrumentation by providing innovative recommendations regarding the

administration, interpretation, and debriefing of cases at this stage of the process. In effect,

while the screening process advocated by Friedrich is not a substantial departure from

existing routine methods, what adds to this chapter is the use of case studies in terms of elu-

cidating situational tactics when dealing with families in cases of suspected sexual abuse.

One of the strengths of the book is the inclusion of case-related material, which allows

the reader to benefit from Friedrich’s extensive experience and knowledge. In addition,

Friedrich devotes an entire chapter at the end of the book to illustrating the key themes

throughout by way of an extensive and comprehensive case study. The latter, and the case

studies used throughout, are extremely well chosen to demonstrate the complexity of

assessment in this area. This book is a vital tool for clinicians because it is theoretically

convincing and uses current research, which is important not only from a clinician’s per-

spective, but also from the perspective of researchers and students.

Jesse L. Cale

University College of the Fraser Valley,

Abbotsford, British Columbia

Zahn, M. A., Brownstein, H. H., & Jackson, S. L. (Eds.). (2004). Violence: From Theory to

Research. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806292928

This edited volume grew out of a conference in December 2002, convened by the

National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in which prominent criminological theorists and

researchers were invited to speak about theories of violence to “identify an integrated the-

ory that would guide NIJ’s research agenda in the area of violence” (p. 13). The presenta-

tions at this conference formed the basis for many of the chapters in this book, although the

editors indicate that each chapter was written especially for this volume.

The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 is an introduction written by the editors that

explains the importance of having a theoretical foundation for the study of violence, the

approaches taken by the various authors, and the features of a coherent theory of violence.

Part 2 comprises nine chapters that describe various theories of violence. Part 3, titled

“Applying Theory to Substance,” contains six chapters in which a specific theory is applied

to a particular form of violence in more concrete terms than in the previous chapters. Part

4 contains the editors’ concluding discussion.

Authors were instructed to address major principles and assumptions of the theory, to

define the types of violence addressed, to apply the theory to both collective and interper-

sonal violence, and to describe the level of empirical support for the theory. Each chapter

concludes with four to five helpful discussion questions.

In chapter 1, R. L. Akers and A.L. Silverman outline a social learning model of violence

and terrorism that is based on four major explanatory concepts: differential association,

definitions favorable and unfavorable, differential reinforcement, and imitation/modeling.

They apply these principles to the examples of rape and terrorism. In the second chapter,

264 Criminal Justice Review