New Theory and Old Canards about Family Violence Research

ishment of Children and Violence and Other Crime in Adulthood, " Straus clarifies several key points regarding the theorized connection between physical punishment and the etiology of violence. He draws on his extensive prior research to justify his conclusion that criticisms of his work on family violence are unfounded. The commentaries on my article fall into two categories. Joan McCord's is mainly fo-cused on an alternative theoretical model, and one which I think has promise. Those by Demie Kurz and Donileen Loseke are mainly "negative campaigning " against a straw man. They write about a person who studies violence without regard for gender, class, race, societal context, cultural meaning, or the unique characteristics of the family as compared to other social groups. Yet these are the very things that have been the hallmark of my research and on which I have made pioneer, and in some cases unique, contributions. Since they allege a failure to deal with these issues, part of my response must be to cite sections of my paper in this volume and many previous papers in which I deal with issues they allege I ignore. The Hidden Agenda The allegation-by-allegation response to Kurz and Loseke which follows provides a basis for readers to judge for themselves whether these two critiques are "negative campaigning