Jeffrey L. Edleson, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor and the Harry & Riva Specht Chair Emeritus in Publicly Supported Social Services at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare. He served as Dean at Berkeley from August 1, 2012, to September 1, 2019. He is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and founding director of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse. He has published more than 130 articles and 12 books on domestic violence, group work, and program evaluation. Edleson recently served on the US National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. His website can be found at jedleson.com.
As this century draws to a close, governments around the world are increasing their legal interve... more As this century draws to a close, governments around the world are increasing their legal intervention in cases of wife assault. Yet few studies have examined the degree of popular approval for such interventions. This article reports the findings of a random sample of 510 adults in Singapore who responded to a series of questions regarding formal legal intervention in wife assaults. The results indicated that Singaporeans support police intervention in cases of wife assault and expect judges to treat such cases as seriously or more seriously than similar crimes while mandating abusers to receive treatment. Several demographic, personal history, and attitudinal factors affected the strength of an individual's advocacy for legal intervention.
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Apr 1, 1996
This study gauges the extent of and factors associated with social approval of a husbands use of ... more This study gauges the extent of and factors associated with social approval of a husbands use of force against his wife in Singapore. Data were obtained from a 2-stage stratified cluster sample of 510 residents of Singapore. Indices were constructed on patriarchal sex roles in marriage approval of force and perception of force. 64.6% strongly disagreed 29.5% disagreed and 5.5% agreed with husbands use of force against wives. 93.1% considered assault a crime. Respondents perceive an attack as assault if the husband bashes her against the wall (89.4%) smashes things (28.7%) uses a weapon against her (96.8%) pushes or shoves her (66.7%) kicks her (88.8%) slaps her (70.3%) or hits her with a fist (94.4%). The degree of force was considered major for bangs against the wall (81.0%) smashed things (30.6%) use of a weapon (96.4%) pushes (48.5%) kicks (79.6%) slaps (48.0%) and hits (84.9%). Use of force was mostly disapproved or strongly disapproved of for all 7 behaviors. 22-25% approved of force when the wife abused the children or was sexually involved with another man. Under 7% approved of force for the remaining 5 behaviors. Approval of force was statistically significantly related to unmarried status Indian ethnic status and residence in low-cost housing. 16% of variance was accounted for. Approval of force for wifes abusing children or extramarital sex was explained by 74% and 66% of cases respectively with 4 variables. Findings were similar to those of Greenblat (1985) among American college students.
The paper outlines concerns about the use of protective measures when returning children in Hague... more The paper outlines concerns about the use of protective measures when returning children in Hague child abduction proceedings and was prepared in advance of an international forum sponsored by the Hague Conference on International Private Law and held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from June 18-21, 2024.
Jessica Blanche Peixotto was the first woman to become a full professor at the University of Cali... more Jessica Blanche Peixotto was the first woman to become a full professor at the University of California in 1918 and yet her role in establishing social welfare studies at Berkeley is mostly untold. A social economist and foremost a scientist, she led efforts to infuse evidence-informed practice in professional social work education in the early 1900s, laying a foundation at Berkeley that is still felt today. Of her many efforts, she established a certificate in social welfare at Berkeley in 1917, the first such training on the West Coast. This article describes her personal and professional life and seeks to establish the importance of her role in establishing social work education at Berkeley and in furthering an evidence-informed approach to our professional work.
This Hague Convention was originally envisioned as helping left-behind parentusually the primary-... more This Hague Convention was originally envisioned as helping left-behind parentusually the primary-caregiving mother-reclaim their children from a taking parent. Ironically, the intervening decades have witnessed a reversal of this vision as more than two-thirds of taking parents are primary-caregiving mothers, many of whom allege domestic violence by left-behind fathers. We maintain that the current implementation of the Convention has lost sight of its primary goal to protect children by overly focusing on procedural issues. We argue for greater sensitivity to the fact that exposure to adult-to-adult domestic violence often poses a grave risk or intolerable situation to children in the home. While much still needs to be done, this chapter highlights changes over the past decade that have improved outcomes in Hague cases where domestic violence against mothers is alleged. The final section of the chapter calls for additional changes to further the safety of children and their mothers who flee for safety to another country.
As gender-based violence prevention programs around the world increasingly include efforts to eng... more As gender-based violence prevention programs around the world increasingly include efforts to engage men and boys as antiviolence allies, both the profound benefits and the inherent complexities of these efforts are emerging. Acknowledging and exploring tensions associated with engaging men is an important element of thoughtfully fostering men’s antiviolence ally movements so as to both respectfully invite men into antiviolence work and create effective, gender-equitable prevention programming. To this end, this study presents descriptive findings regarding challenges associated with men’s engagement programming from in-depth interviews with twenty-nine representatives of organizations that engage men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America. Programs reported negotiating complex issues related to gender, the intersectional nature of men’s identities, and establishing legitimacy and sustainability within co...
This research note expands on the limited body of knowledge about men’s engagement in preventing ... more This research note expands on the limited body of knowledge about men’s engagement in preventing violence against women. One hundred and sixty-five individuals representing organizations from around the world participated in a brief online survey about their efforts to engage men in violence prevention. This study reveals a large and diverse global community working to engage men in preventing violence against women. The level of involvement is broad, from locally contained organizations to global collaborations. This study is a first step toward building a comparative knowledge base to inform program design and implementation.
Abstract Recent advances have made a variety of instant communication technologies widely availab... more Abstract Recent advances have made a variety of instant communication technologies widely available to human service researchers. The authors describe one such technology, electronic mail networks, and illustrate both its advantages and disadvantages in improving applied research collaboration within the human services.
I was trained as a school social worker, but early in my career I also began to work with adult m... more I was trained as a school social worker, but early in my career I also began to work with adult men who were violent towards their intimate partners. The intersection of my interests in both child well-being and preventing violence against women inevitably led me to working with both child protection workers and battered women's advocates. What I learned along the way was that working together produced much better outcomes for mothers and their children than when we worked in parallel, without coordination, and sometimes even in conflict. While I refer primarily to women as victims of domestic violence, men may also be victims of violence and such violence also occurs in samesex relationships. Back in 1999, I co-authored with the late Susan Schechter what came to be known as The Greenbook but was officially titled Effective Intervention in Woman Battering and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice (Schechter & Edleson, 1999). The Greenbook called for collaboration between child welfare, domestic violence agencies, and family courts. It was both endorsed and published by the National Council of Juvenile
Social workers rely on clinical interviews for diagnostic information and as a format for interve... more Social workers rely on clinical interviews for diagnostic information and as a format for intervention. Social workers use interviews to develop relationshiops with clients, elicit relevant information, and assist clients in choosing strategies for change. For direct-service workers, interviewing is the single most frequently employed social work method (Kadushin 1972). Social work interviewing incorporates at least two skill areas: interpersonal skill, the ability to facilitate relationships with clients, and interviewing skill, the ability to obtain ...
Abstract Children often experience difficulties when attempting to reolve conflicts with their pe... more Abstract Children often experience difficulties when attempting to reolve conflicts with their peers. The three-stage group training program outlined in this article focuses on teaching a limited set of skills that children can use successfully to resolve conflicts. The stages include readiness activities, skill training, and structured generalization.
As this century draws to a close, governments around the world are increasing their legal interve... more As this century draws to a close, governments around the world are increasing their legal intervention in cases of wife assault. Yet few studies have examined the degree of popular approval for such interventions. This article reports the findings of a random sample of 510 adults in Singapore who responded to a series of questions regarding formal legal intervention in wife assaults. The results indicated that Singaporeans support police intervention in cases of wife assault and expect judges to treat such cases as seriously or more seriously than similar crimes while mandating abusers to receive treatment. Several demographic, personal history, and attitudinal factors affected the strength of an individual's advocacy for legal intervention.
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Apr 1, 1996
This study gauges the extent of and factors associated with social approval of a husbands use of ... more This study gauges the extent of and factors associated with social approval of a husbands use of force against his wife in Singapore. Data were obtained from a 2-stage stratified cluster sample of 510 residents of Singapore. Indices were constructed on patriarchal sex roles in marriage approval of force and perception of force. 64.6% strongly disagreed 29.5% disagreed and 5.5% agreed with husbands use of force against wives. 93.1% considered assault a crime. Respondents perceive an attack as assault if the husband bashes her against the wall (89.4%) smashes things (28.7%) uses a weapon against her (96.8%) pushes or shoves her (66.7%) kicks her (88.8%) slaps her (70.3%) or hits her with a fist (94.4%). The degree of force was considered major for bangs against the wall (81.0%) smashed things (30.6%) use of a weapon (96.4%) pushes (48.5%) kicks (79.6%) slaps (48.0%) and hits (84.9%). Use of force was mostly disapproved or strongly disapproved of for all 7 behaviors. 22-25% approved of force when the wife abused the children or was sexually involved with another man. Under 7% approved of force for the remaining 5 behaviors. Approval of force was statistically significantly related to unmarried status Indian ethnic status and residence in low-cost housing. 16% of variance was accounted for. Approval of force for wifes abusing children or extramarital sex was explained by 74% and 66% of cases respectively with 4 variables. Findings were similar to those of Greenblat (1985) among American college students.
The paper outlines concerns about the use of protective measures when returning children in Hague... more The paper outlines concerns about the use of protective measures when returning children in Hague child abduction proceedings and was prepared in advance of an international forum sponsored by the Hague Conference on International Private Law and held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from June 18-21, 2024.
Jessica Blanche Peixotto was the first woman to become a full professor at the University of Cali... more Jessica Blanche Peixotto was the first woman to become a full professor at the University of California in 1918 and yet her role in establishing social welfare studies at Berkeley is mostly untold. A social economist and foremost a scientist, she led efforts to infuse evidence-informed practice in professional social work education in the early 1900s, laying a foundation at Berkeley that is still felt today. Of her many efforts, she established a certificate in social welfare at Berkeley in 1917, the first such training on the West Coast. This article describes her personal and professional life and seeks to establish the importance of her role in establishing social work education at Berkeley and in furthering an evidence-informed approach to our professional work.
This Hague Convention was originally envisioned as helping left-behind parentusually the primary-... more This Hague Convention was originally envisioned as helping left-behind parentusually the primary-caregiving mother-reclaim their children from a taking parent. Ironically, the intervening decades have witnessed a reversal of this vision as more than two-thirds of taking parents are primary-caregiving mothers, many of whom allege domestic violence by left-behind fathers. We maintain that the current implementation of the Convention has lost sight of its primary goal to protect children by overly focusing on procedural issues. We argue for greater sensitivity to the fact that exposure to adult-to-adult domestic violence often poses a grave risk or intolerable situation to children in the home. While much still needs to be done, this chapter highlights changes over the past decade that have improved outcomes in Hague cases where domestic violence against mothers is alleged. The final section of the chapter calls for additional changes to further the safety of children and their mothers who flee for safety to another country.
As gender-based violence prevention programs around the world increasingly include efforts to eng... more As gender-based violence prevention programs around the world increasingly include efforts to engage men and boys as antiviolence allies, both the profound benefits and the inherent complexities of these efforts are emerging. Acknowledging and exploring tensions associated with engaging men is an important element of thoughtfully fostering men’s antiviolence ally movements so as to both respectfully invite men into antiviolence work and create effective, gender-equitable prevention programming. To this end, this study presents descriptive findings regarding challenges associated with men’s engagement programming from in-depth interviews with twenty-nine representatives of organizations that engage men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America. Programs reported negotiating complex issues related to gender, the intersectional nature of men’s identities, and establishing legitimacy and sustainability within co...
This research note expands on the limited body of knowledge about men’s engagement in preventing ... more This research note expands on the limited body of knowledge about men’s engagement in preventing violence against women. One hundred and sixty-five individuals representing organizations from around the world participated in a brief online survey about their efforts to engage men in violence prevention. This study reveals a large and diverse global community working to engage men in preventing violence against women. The level of involvement is broad, from locally contained organizations to global collaborations. This study is a first step toward building a comparative knowledge base to inform program design and implementation.
Abstract Recent advances have made a variety of instant communication technologies widely availab... more Abstract Recent advances have made a variety of instant communication technologies widely available to human service researchers. The authors describe one such technology, electronic mail networks, and illustrate both its advantages and disadvantages in improving applied research collaboration within the human services.
I was trained as a school social worker, but early in my career I also began to work with adult m... more I was trained as a school social worker, but early in my career I also began to work with adult men who were violent towards their intimate partners. The intersection of my interests in both child well-being and preventing violence against women inevitably led me to working with both child protection workers and battered women's advocates. What I learned along the way was that working together produced much better outcomes for mothers and their children than when we worked in parallel, without coordination, and sometimes even in conflict. While I refer primarily to women as victims of domestic violence, men may also be victims of violence and such violence also occurs in samesex relationships. Back in 1999, I co-authored with the late Susan Schechter what came to be known as The Greenbook but was officially titled Effective Intervention in Woman Battering and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice (Schechter & Edleson, 1999). The Greenbook called for collaboration between child welfare, domestic violence agencies, and family courts. It was both endorsed and published by the National Council of Juvenile
Social workers rely on clinical interviews for diagnostic information and as a format for interve... more Social workers rely on clinical interviews for diagnostic information and as a format for intervention. Social workers use interviews to develop relationshiops with clients, elicit relevant information, and assist clients in choosing strategies for change. For direct-service workers, interviewing is the single most frequently employed social work method (Kadushin 1972). Social work interviewing incorporates at least two skill areas: interpersonal skill, the ability to facilitate relationships with clients, and interviewing skill, the ability to obtain ...
Abstract Children often experience difficulties when attempting to reolve conflicts with their pe... more Abstract Children often experience difficulties when attempting to reolve conflicts with their peers. The three-stage group training program outlined in this article focuses on teaching a limited set of skills that children can use successfully to resolve conflicts. The stages include readiness activities, skill training, and structured generalization.
This book is out of print. This link will lead you to the authors' reflections on each of their c... more This book is out of print. This link will lead you to the authors' reflections on each of their classic papers.
Manual for helping domestic violence programs specify, collect and summarize systematic data abou... more Manual for helping domestic violence programs specify, collect and summarize systematic data about their outcomes.
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