As long as human beings have lived together in any sort of a familial setting, there undoubtedly has been some form of domestic violence. These occurrences hurt not only the person at whom the violent actions are aimed, but also the entire family from a variety of viewpoints. In this paper, the researcher will summarize prevalence rates/symptom patterns of domestic violence, predisposing factors and prevention/treatment approaches being used with fetal alcohol syndrome, conduct disorder, and childhood depression. Ultimately, the reader will have a much better understanding of the facets of this problem upon the completion of the research.

             Definition and Historical Perspective of Domestic Violence.

             In order to provide a frame of reference that will set the stage for the subsequent portions of the research, a simple definition of domestic violence and its presence throughout recorded history will now be presented. .

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             Simply stated, domestic violence can be best described as a pattern of behavior used by a competent adult or adolescent to establish and maintain power and control over another competent adult or adolescent (Burnett E, 2006) . The behavior, can include physical violence, psychological abuse, and nonconsensual sexual behavior and can be inflicted by one individual to another or as a group to individual. One of the most devastating facts about domestic violence is that when it occurs repeatedly, each event is usually more violent than the event that preceded it, which is indicative of a building rage within the abuser and a symptom of some other problems that are deeper rooted than the acting out in a violent way.

             Although much of the most comprehensive research about domestic violence has taken place over the past several decades, the incidence of domestic violence is not a new phenomenon. For example, the early Common Law of England permitted a husband to beat his wife, as long as the stick he used to administer the beating was not larger than the diameter of his thumb, which was the origin of the modern figure of speech "rule of thumb" (Psychology Online, 2004).