The book is extremely readable, well illustrated and has a high standard ofpresentation. Interim and visual summaries make the book useful for revisionpurposes. One minor criticism is that there is not much information on avail-able psychometric tests. I would refer to the book as an introduction to a topicor use it as an excellent source of further references for more detailed research.

Elizabeth JamiesonBroadmoor HospitalCrowthorne, Berks, UK

VIOLENCE AND GENDER RELATIONS: THEORIES AND INTERVENTIONS

Edited by Barbara Fawcett, Brid Featherstone, Jeff Hearn and Christine Toft.Sage Publications, London, EC2A 4PU, January 1969, 208 pp. Hardback£35.00, ISBN 0-8039-7649-6. Paperback £11.95, ISBN 0-8039-7650-X.

This book is introduced as an examination of ‘violence through the lens ofgender’. This implies a cohesiveness between chapters which is not alwaysevident. The fact that some chapters stray from the main tenet of the bookmay be forgiven in their applicability otherwise to those working with offend-ers and within the mental health field.

One such chapter, written by Wendy Holloway, powerfully but conciselyexplores gender and power in organisations, particularly the ‘men’s room’ typeof discussions which may substantially exclude women, and the subtle ways inwhich men may exert power and authority over women, even if the womanholds a higher position in the organisation. Holloway describes an informalorganisational hierarchy based on assumptions about gender roles. Otherchapters also examine the interaction of violence and gender in an organisa-tional setting. Elizabeth Harlow discusses the mistrust that men have of socialwork organisations and points out that social services started out as a largelyfemale-led institution.

The book begins with an overview of women’s role in violence in variouscultures. The particular problems of Asian women are highlighted by JalnaHanmet. Those involved in abusive relationships have fewer escape routesowing to cultural boundaries. The importance of race and culture in the man-agement of child abuse is examined by Mtezulka who cites the Tyra Henrycase as an example. Mtezulka claims that the assumption that black womenare able to cope with hardship blinded social workers to the vulnerability ofTyra’s grandmother as a carer and resulted in lack of practical support.

Jeff Hearn examines the historical backdrop to men’s violence to knownwomen and examines the ways in which men perceive violence. The accep-tance and minimisation of violence by men is picked up Judith Milner in thethird part of the book where she discusses men’s resistance to social workers.

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Milner points out that social work organisations may minimise violence them-selves through the different perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ roles.Women, who are held to be more emotionally responsible in the relationship,may be more accessible than the man who may fail to appear during visits.Expressions of remorse and identification of the abuser as a victim himself alsoserve to minimise violence. This is echoed by Whittaker in her examinationof elder abuse in the last part of the book dedicated to generation and gender.

Part of the scope of the book is intended to cover interventions and strate-gies for dealing with these issues. This is the least coherent part of the book,partly because interventions are dealt with piecemeal by each contributor.Generally, interventions are described in terms of failure. Lancaster’s piece onthose who sexually abuse children paints a grim picture.

As an ex-probation officer she points out that the distancing of perpetra-tors from normal society provides no impetus to explore causes. The pervadingfeeling that ‘nothing works’ with these offenders leads to over-emphasis onsocial causes and little focus on individual treatment. However, she recognisesthat blind faith in ‘therapy’ is not enough and that many of the interventionsprovided may need to be further evaluated.

The book provides an important insight into the influence of gender onvarious aspects of life which may impinge or be impinged on by violent actsand would be useful reading for those working with offenders, those workingwithin the mental health field and child care workers.

Caroline HolmesBroadmoor HospitalCrowthorne, Berks, UK

UNDERSTANDING DEVIANCE: A GUIDE TO THE SOCIOLOGYOF CRIME AND RULE BREAKING

By David Downes and Paul Rock. Clarendon Press, Oxford OX2 6DP, 1995,405 pp. Revised 2nd edition. Hardback £40.00, ISBN 0-19-876415-4.Paperback £13.99, ISBN 0-19-876373-5.

Since it was first published in 1982, ‘Downes and Rock’ has established itselfas the pre-eminent British text on the sociology of deviance. The fact thatthis is a revised second edition rather than a third is testament to the slowerpace of development in the discipline to which the authors draw attention intheir preface. But this is not to say that there is nothing new here. Far from it:the revised edition is a full 40 pages longer than its predecessor.

In the opening chapter on their approach to the subject, the authors makemuch of the massive expansion in the market for criminological thought butprovide a stark warning of the risks of ‘hyperinflation of a debased currency’.The second chapter illuminates the crucial relationship between forms of evi-dence and forms of theory – a useful reminder for the would-be researcher.

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