Pub. date: 2008 | Online Pub. Date: May 28, 2008 | DOI:
10.4135/9781412963930 | Print ISBN: 9781412941655 | Online ISBN:
9781412963930| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this
encyclopedia Kathleen S. Lowney Domestic violence—usually
defined as intentional physical, sexual, or emotional harm by an
intimate partner or family member—likely has always been part of
human history. The construction and reconstruction of this
social problem in the United States occurred in several ways,
beginning as the problem of wife abuse. Claims makers concerned
with wife abuse emerged during the 1970s out of several other
moral entrepreneurial campaigns, particularly those of the
second wave feminist consciousness-raising groups, the anti-rape
social movement, and the child protection movement. The first
two focused their attention on challenging the secondary status
of women in society. Consciousness-raising groups gave women
time and space away from their busy lives to share stories of
harassment, victimization, and often