Going beyond the traditional psychological and sociological approaches, this ground-breaking volume presents a new theoretical framework for understanding and resolving abusive family interactions: it takes a communication perspective to examine the interactional processes at the core of domestic abuse, aggression and violence. Covering spouse, child, elderly parent and courtship abuse, the contributors explore both commonalities and differences in emotional, psychological, verbal and sexual abuse. They illustrate how these different types of abuse stem from problematic communication patterns integral to the power imbalance inherent in abusive relationships. The contributors also suggest ways of modifying these patterns.