THEORETIC PERSPECTIVES
Most theories about the causes of family violence are only partial explanations (Box 22-1). Either they attempt to explain a single type or a few types of family violence, such as partner assault, or they seek to identify a particular factor or set of factors that sccount for some of the observed variations in behavior between violent and nonviolent persons or acts (National Research Council [NRC], 1993). The leading explanations of family violence come from social, cultural, and transgenerational perapectives.