This book provides students and practitioners with both a comprehensive text and reference on the problem of domestic violence from a criminal justice point of view. Klein provides cutting edge analysis of current practice as well as a mature restatement and/or interpretation of existing knowledge on domestic violence, written from a practitioner's perspective. As such, it focuses on how the criminal justice system actually operates and functions on the street level, in the courts, and in the offices of probation officers. Comprehensive and descriptive yet research-oriented, the book shows the relevance of research to policy and practice in the field. The text is replete with hundreds of practical examples drawn from real life and Klein's fieldwork and includes original data analysis, field reviews, and his observations as a consultant in the field and columnist for the National Bulletin on Domestic Violence Prevention.