It Could Happen to Anyone: Why Battered Women Stay

Alyce LaViolette has worked with battered women since 1978, first as an advocate at Women Shelter in Long Beach and then in private practice. In 1979, she founded Alternatives to Violence in Long Beach, one of the first programs in the country for spouse abusers. She specializes in Anger Management, Domestic Violence Counseling for Survivors and Perpetrators, and Gender Issues. She also provides couples′ counseling, and a broad base of individual issues. She also serves as an expert witness for criminal and family court.

Ola W. Barnett is a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology at Pepperdine University, Malibu, California. She earned her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in Psychology at UCLA, specializing in Learning. Her initial research centered on batterers, and she later studied battered women and dating violence. She has coauthored two best-selling Sage books (with Alyce D. LaViolette) on why battered women stay with abusive partners. These books provide a scientific explanation, grounded in learning theory, for understanding the obstacles battered women face in trying to break free. She remains active in the field of family violence by reviewing articles for a large number of journals and performing as an external grant reviewer for a few organizations. She serves on the editorial board of the new journal, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. She also continues research on the impact of transitional housing on the lives of battered women.