Cruel but Not Unusual: Violence in Canadian Families (review)

Cruel but Not Unusual is a collection of readings on violence against women, children, and the aged in Canada. The book spans over 500 pages, has an introduction and conclusion by the editors, and is divided into four sections. Three of the four sections are customary for this topic, namely: violence on children, women, and the aged. The first section has been reserved for the study of violence and diversity. If any laurels are due to this book, it should be for the inclusion of the chapters on diversity.

Within sections, authors explore different aspects of violence. There are two chapters on the aged, three on women, and five each on diversity and children for a total of 15 chapters. Even this simple count indicates the editors’ prioritization of topics, and reflects the established priority in the disciplinary affiliation of most authors (social work). Indeed, a perusal of the contributors’ section (pp. 507–512) shows that a large proportion of the authors are academically young scholars, PhD students, and practitioners in the social work field, with the rare presence of more established academics within social work, psychology, or law. Thus, this book is written by and mostly targets social work students, practitioners, and instructors. If Alaggia and Vine intended to have a larger, more interdisciplinary, and more scholarly audience for their book, I suspect that their success will be more modest.

The quality of chapters within the four sections varies substantially. In the diversity section, which I consider to be the strength of this book, the chapters addressing violence and healing in Aboriginal communities (Baskin) and immigrant and refugee families (Alaggia and Maiter) are interesting. Differential and sensitive focus on the causes and consequences of violence amongst intimates within Canadian diversities is long overdue. Authors of the diversity chapters rightly, and forcefully, call our attention to the complexities. Moreover, as Baskin points out, we need to make sure that the safety of women (and children) remains pivotal even when we seek novel, culture-sensitive solutions to gendered victimization.

The section on children also includes some important information. For example, Vine, Trocme, and Finlay introduce a meaningful review of the Canadian Incidence Study (CIS) data. Unfortunately, these data are now nine years old, and the reader wonders about the change in patterns. McGillivray and Durrant introduce a detailed historical analysis of corporal punishment, which is not totally new, but still informative. Likewise, Birnbaum’s comparisons of provincial legislation is informative, albeit much longer than necessary (pp. 302–324).

On the topic of abuse of older adults, McDonald et al.’s summary article is extensive and useful. Although there is some redundancy for those of us who are already familiar with McDonald’s earlier work (and some overlap with the following chapter, Harbison et al.), McDonald et al. bring conceptual clarity to a topic which is increasing in importance in Canada as the baby-boomers approach retirement age.

I found the whole section on the abuse of women one of the weaker links of this book. The conceptual chapter which attempts to frame abuse of women (Todd and Lundy) provides an extensive review but does not go beyond already discussed (and re-discussed) debates in the literature. To be fair to the authors, these theoretical debates may be still “fresh” for social workers who, by the nature of their work, are driven more by practice than theory. However, the conceptual debates rehashed here are a bit too old and tired—and some of the literature reviewed is not even Canadian.

As a feminist sociologist, my deepest disappointment is with the “escaping narratives of domination” chapter (Avis). I admit that this reaction may be partially due to the differences between my own discipline of sociology and intra-personal “therapeutic” approaches. Having worked with women who are victimized by abuse, I also admit that their shattered selves may indeed need lots of support to rid them of the dehumanizing effects of abuse. However, and simultaneously, I...