The Abuse Excuse

According to renowned defense attorney and Harvard law professor Alan M. Dershowitz, "abuse excuses" are enabling people to get away with murder - literally. From the Menendez brothers to Lorena Bobbitt, more and more Americans accused of violent crimes are admitting to the charges, but arguing that they shouldn't be held legally responsible. The reason: they're victims - of an abusive parent, a violent spouse, a traumatic experience, ethnic hatred, society at large, or anything else - who struck back at a real or perceived oppressor. And they couldn't help themselves, they say. In this provocative and important collection of essays, Dershowitz reviews a wide range of recent cases - including those of O. J. Simpson, Tonya Harding, and Woody Allen - and argues that the current vogue in victim defenses is antithetical to the ideals of our constitutional democracy. For Dershowitz, the foundations of American society are individual responsibility and the rule of law. And people who claim to be above the law - whatever the excuse - are no more than vigilantes.

In this groundbreaking bestseller, Lundy Bancroft—a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men—uses his knowledge about how abusers think to help women recognize when they are being controlled or devalued, and to find ways to get free of an abusive relationship. He says he loves you. So...why does he do that? You’ve asked yourself this question again and again. Now you have the chance to see inside the minds of angry and controlling men—and change your life. In Why Does He Do That? you will learn about: • The early warning signs of abuse • The nature of abusive thinking • Myths about abusers • Ten abusive personality types • The role of drugs and alcohol • What you can fix, and what you can’t • And how to get out of an abusive relationship safely “This is without a doubt the most informative and useful book yet written on the subject of abusive men. Women who are armed with the insights found in these pages will be on the road to recovering control of their lives.”—Jay G. Silverman, Ph.D., Director, Violence Prevention Programs, Harvard School of Public Health

In his first book since "The Moral Sense", noted criminologist and bestselling author James Q. Wilson looks at today's legal system and delivers a compelling and controversial examination of why it does not work.

OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER The heartrending story of a mid-century American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand--even cure--the disease. Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the dream. After World War II, Don's work with the US Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years there was an established script for a family like the Galvins--aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony--and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen in one family? What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institutes of Mental Health. Their shocking story also offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy and the premise of the schizophrenogenic mother, to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amidst profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. Unknown to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment and even the possibility of the eradication of the disease for future generations. With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love and hope.

The book unravels the mysteries of the criminal justice system, explaining how and why we sentence offenders; the reasons behind the system's technicalities, which can benefit the guilty; and why the system is miserly on victims' rights. It points out where we err, particularly with the parole system. Each chapter starts with a murder docudrama.

Noting the increase in false accusations of child sexual abuse where divorce and custody litigation is in progress, this book examines the consequences of such accusations for everyone involved and provides defensive strategies for those falsely accused. The book draws on four case studies, including a personal one, to illustrate the chronology and effects of false allegations brought by the mother against the father, noting commonalities among the cases, and personality traits of the accuser and of the accused. The effects of false allegations and subsequent proceedings on the child are also detailed. The book then explores this phenomenon as "Sexual Allegations in Divorce" or SAID Syndrome, and identifies "red flags" during proceedings that suggest this syndrome may be occurring. The book also examines how social service agencies and courts appear to work in concert to substantiate false allegations rather than investigating to determine the truth, and how therapeutic interventions, when no abuse occurred, can affect children. The dubious use of anatomically correct dolls as evidence of sexual abuse in such cases is also examined. Finally, the book summarizes the legal and social service problems inherent to such cases, offering solutions, and then presents legal and emotional strategies for fighting false allegations. Three appendices include a questionnaire for identifying SAID syndrome, guidelines for determining presence of abuse, and a court monitor checklist. A list of support organizations is included, along with state listings of the Vocal National Network and a 29-item bibliography. (HTH)

Abuses and Excuses breaks new ground in helping patients and families hold bad nursing homes accountable, sharing a wealth of insider strategies and insights that show, step-by-step, how tho hold the nursing home industry accountable for abuse and neglect. It's an eye opening account of corporate greed, acts of neglect and abuse, an insidious industry culture of cover-up, and the actual harm that inevitably befalls vulnerable nursing home patients all across the country with shocking frequency.