Interpersonal violence has been the focus of research within the social sciences for some considerable time. These responses, as the contributors to this volume all show, make a difference in terms of how violence is understood, resisted and come to terms with in its immediate aftermath and over the longer term.

1. Introduction to Response Based Approaches to the Study of Interpersonal Violence; Margareta Hyden, David Gadd and Allan Wade PART I: UNDERSTANDING INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE FROM RESPONSE BASED PERSPECTIVES 2. Like Father, Like Son? Young Men's Responses to Domestic Violence Between Parents; David Gadd, Mary-Louise Corr, Claire Fox and Ian Butler 3. Responses to Interpersonal Violence around HIV/AIDS: A Narrative Approach; Corinne Squire 4. Rules and Representations: Social Networks' Responses to Men's Violence Against Women in South Africa; Taryn van Niekerk and Floretta Boonzaier 5. The Response Network; Margareta Hyden 6. Caught in-between: Grandparents Responding to Violence and Negotiating Family Roles and Responsibilities; Linn Sandberg PART II: PROFESSIONAL RESPONSES 7. The Best Interests of the Child or the Best Interests of the Family? How the Child Protection Services in Sweden Respond to Domestic Violence; Ann-Charlotte Munger 8. 'Having the Violence Leave: Women's Experiences of the Safe at Home Program'; Angela Hartwig 9. Displaying shame: Men's Violence Toward Women in a Culture of Gender Equality; Lucas Gottzen 10. 'We're in the 21st Century After All': Analysis of Social Responses in Individual Support and Institutional Reform; Linda Coates and Allan Wade 11. The Role of Response Based Practice in Activism; Cathy Richardson 12. The Difference a Response Based Approach Makes to the Study of Interpersonal Violence; David Gadd and Margareta Hyden

Interpersonal violence has been the focus of research within the social sciences for some considerable time. Yet inquiries about the causes of interpersonal violence and the effects on the victims have dominated the field of research and clinical practice. Central to the contributions in this volume is the idea that interpersonal violence is a social action embedded in responses from various actors. These include actions, words and behaviour from friends and family, ordinary citizens, social workers and criminal justice professionals. These responses, as the contributors to this volume all show, make a difference in terms of how violence is understood, resisted and come to terms with in its immediate aftermath and over the longer term. Bringing together an international network of scholars and practitioners from a range of disciplines and fields of practice, this book maps and expands research on interpersonal violence. In doing so, it opens an important new terrain on which social responses to violence can be fully interrogated in terms of their intentions, meanings and outcomes.