Some of the most frightening and harmful violence in modern society takes place inside the family. Wives, children, grandparents, all of them can be subject to attacks that range from mild ‘roughing up’ to assaults that leave the victim physically or psychologically crippled. What causes this violence? What sort of people are the attackers and the victims? What can we do to diminish it and to help those who suffer? Originally published in 1978, Jean Renvoize author of the highly praised Children in Danger traces the web of violence along many different strands. She covers baby battering and child abuse, violent husbands and wives, ‘granny bashing’ and incest. She looks at the psychological roots and the social patterns; she also surveys the agencies that act to prevent family violence, from social workers and those who run refuges to police and doctors. She suggests a number of positive steps that could and should be taken to improve society’s response. As in Children in Danger, she draws on many first-hand sources of information, not only professionals working in the field but also the detailed and intimate self-revelations of both victims and batterers. The first chapter – an almost unbelievable account by a girl caught up in four generations of violence, whose sufferings make her recoil from it and yet at the same time draw her inexorably deeper in, both as victim and aggressor – is the first of many case histories on which Jean Renvoize draws. Her book is an extraordinary document about humanity, as well as an essential guide for anyone who has to deal with the problems it discusses with such insight and objectivity.

In the early 1970s ‘baby battering’ accounted for an estimated 700 child deaths a year in Britain, while a further 4-5,000 children were seriously injured – all this in spite of the knowledge gained from the research done both in Britain and in the United States. How could such tragedies be prevented? What is known about the parents, the family patterns and social situations that gave rise to baby battering? Extraordinary public interest had been aroused by the appalling case of Maria Colwell, and the problem of baby battering was now receiving the close attention it had long warranted. Originally published in 1974, Jean Renvoize had spent two years interviewing the battering parents themselves, as well as social workers, doctors, the police and psychiatrists. The special virtue of Children in Danger was that, apart from being the first fully-researched book on the subject, the author was able to look at baby battering as an outsider, seeing the picture as a whole. Her overwhelming impression is that although lip-service was paid to the idea of cooperation between all professionals working in the field, the truth was that too frequently a deep distrust existed between them, particularly between social workers and the police. The result of this distrust was that every year thousands of children fell through the social welfare net with tragic results. Jean Renvoize discusses frankly and impartially the ways the various professions regard each other, and she makes constructive suggestions for the future. The taped stories of several battering parents, which illustrate how narrow the line is between necessary discipline and near-cruelty, between extreme exasperation and uncontrolled attack, are a moving and illuminating feature of the book. These parents talk not only about their lives and the events which led them towards actions they will never cease regretting, but also about their views of the help that was given them, or the lack of it. They are articulate and self-aware, and here for the first time their story is heard, along with the various professional explanations of why some people cannot stop themselves attacking the children whom they long to love.

In the early 1980s incest was ceasing to be a taboo subject. In Britain there was much conjecture but little knowledge about it, although some estimates suggested that as many as one child in ten would experience some form of sexual abuse within the family. Originally published in 1982, Jean Renvoize had travelled around the USA, where considerable attention had been paid to incest in the previous few years, meeting professionals ranging through paediatricians, policemen, university researchers, social workers, lawyers, and – more important – victims and abusers themselves. This knowledge, added to the sparser British research, opened up a hitherto closed subject, bringing a wide range of controversial information to an audience composed of the general public as well as professionals involved in this field at the time. The author’s clear and easy style, which characterised her earlier books on related subjects – Children in Danger and Web of Violence – makes this a work of general as well as specialist interest.

Originally published in 1985, this, at the time, controversial book explores the fundamental changes in personal relationships that had taken place over the previous decade, focusing on women who had deliberately chosen to have children outside a permanent relationship. After travelling widely throughout Britain, the United States and Holland meeting those personally involved, Jean Renvoize discusses why a growing number of women were deciding to become single mothers. She discovers the implications of this for the future of the family and for old-style love and commitment between the sexes. She analyses the position both of the children of these single families and of their mothers. She looks at men’s feelings about being used a ‘stud’ and uncovers the desire of some men to have a family without being financially and emotionally involved with a long-term partner. Importantly, Jean Renvoize places the new style of personal relationship in the context of the advance of the women’s movement. It is clear that ordinary and non-political women’s and men’s lives have been more fundamentally changed by feminism than they may realise. But few of the mothers interviewed by the author are actively feminist: lesbians apart, they all have in common past relationships with men, and would happily settle with the right man could their high expectations be met. Without exception, all those who made the deliberate choice to ‘go solo’ have loving, joyful and rewarding experiences of motherhood. Having a child alone has been fraught with problems for all, but those who have met the challenge have found such great fulfilment that one is faced with an inevitable question: are a woman and her child better off without a man? When so many marriages end in divorce, is a stable unit of two better than a broken unit of three? But also, might those without the motivation of successful ‘solo mothers’ rush thoughtlessly into motherhood – and find themselves exhausted, broke and very unhappy? Presenting in their own words the experiences of those directly involved, this was above all a practical book. It provided welcome and necessary insights into the changing pattern of relationships at the time – for the married and unmarried; for parents and non-parents. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

How common is child sexual abuse? How can victims and abusers best be treated? In Innocence Destroyed, originally published in 1993, Jean Renvoize uses interviews with victims and with experienced professionals, as well as new data from Britain, North America and Australia, to give a clear picture of the problem of child sexual abuse - its extent, its effects, and the most up-to-date recommendations for treating its victims and preventing its recurrence at the time. For those new to the subject, her book provides a readable account of a complex area, and for the more experienced worker it gives as invaluable overview of the findings of other professionals in the field.