Book Review: Victims of Sexual Assault and Abuse: Resources and Responses for Individuals and Families

Abstract

interviews but will probably find the flow of the chapter confusing. For example, in a chapter entitled, ''Psychology, feminism and ideology: Where do we go from here?'' Nicholson describes Lenore Walker's (1979) cycle of violence, why women sometimes do not leave abusive relationships, and the trauma of living with abuse over time. These topics have been well documented in the literature and do not clearly address the seemingly forward-thinking purpose of the chapter.A significant strength of the book is the ''discursive'' or social construction analysis provided of interpersonal violence, both at the individual and social level of analysis. Nicolson argues that individuals' perception of their material context (their ''lived experience'') is what matters in DV situations and should be emphasized in therapy and service provision, rather than other theoretical perspectives (such as feminist explanations of abuse as power by the man or the woman) that may not fit individual relationships. She also notes how the use of the word ''survivor'' of DV potentially places a burden on the person to engage in advocacy for others, thus emphasizing how language used to refer to DV frames the context and expectations for those involved. Readers unfamiliar with this postmodern perspective and method may find this book useful in challenging their assumptions. Nicolson concludes by applying psychoanalytic, neopsychoanalytic, and attachment theories to explain how internalization of patriarchy and childhood exposure to violence can affect DV experience.In sum, interesting points in the book include compelling accounts from interviews with DV survivors and the application of social constructionist and intrapsychic theoretical approaches to the conceptualization of DV study and treatment. Significant concerns with the book include descriptions of rifts between feminist and psychological theoretical ''camps'' without including contemporary feminist psychological theory and research on DV as well as an overall unclear organization of the topics.