Cruel But Not Unusual: Violence in Canadian Families

Michael Ungar is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at
Dalhousie University. He is the author of Nurturing Hidden Resilience in
Troubled Youth.

Alaggia, an academic, and Vine, the executive director of Voices for
Children, have teamed up to provide a much-needed comprehensive text for
students and practitioners concerned with understanding violence in
Canadian families. Unlike many other texts currently used, Cruel But Not
Unusual brings together a number of different theoretical positions,
representing advances in how family violence is theorized and addressed.
Rather than positioning themselves in one theoretical camp or another,
the volume will be appreciated for the way it juxtaposes complementary
theories. Readers will find articles that deal with feminist theories,
social learning theory, structural theory, colonization theory, and
understandings of cultural/gender/sexual orientation that intersect. It
is shown that these multiple forms of oppression exert an influence on
how family violence is understood and responded to.

The authors brought together in the text under the capable direction of
the editors represent the best-known people in this field in Canada,
along with more junior academics who present fresh perspectives. Using
an innovative approach, the book tackles cultural issues, along with
issues of gender and sexual orientation, as well as taking a life span
perspective. Thus, there are chapters on the controversy regarding
children’s exposure to violence as justification for child welfare
interventions as well as papers discussing elder abuse. To this mix are
several chapters that look at interventions, making the text
particularly useful to courses that want both theory and practice
emphasized. The text has been well edited and is generally accessible to
an advanced undergraduate student body. For those with older works on
this topic written from one theoretical position or another, Cruel But
Not Unusual is an essential addition to their libraries.