This revised and updated edition of It Could Happen to Anyone provides a comprehensive examination of why women stay in abusive relationships and why they leave, explaining why women should not be blamed for their victimization.Totally revised and rewritten, theáthird edition of the widely read and highly praised bestseller It Could Happen to Anyone offers all readers a unique amalgamation of the practical clinical experience of Alyce LaViolette and the extensive research efforts of Ola Barnett on battered women and their batterers. The newáedition includes a wealth of new material and case examples, and retained sections have been carefully rewritten to reflect contemporary thinking. It continues to provide understanding and empathy regarding this complex issue and presents an integrated learning theory explanation of the conditioning that culminates in wife abuse, in the resulting state of the victim, and in the decision to stay with an abuser.