Theory is important (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992; Collins, 2000; Lewin, 1951; Merton, 1968) not only for scholars but also for practitioners and policy makers who are seeking to better understand and address family violence from their various professional vantage points. The different theories in this book provide the frameworks that guide the development of research questions as well as the analysis and interpretation of data. In addition, each provides a different road map for the development of policy recommendations that seek to address various forms of family violence through criminal and civil courts, institutional policies, and legislation. Though they often have overlap, indicative of their interdisciplinarity, they provide distinct and unique ways of understanding the complexities of family violence. The field of family violence studies crosses many traditional disciplinary lines. And, though some scholars conduct research within their disciplinary bounds, much of the scholarship that is produced is interdisciplinary. Some fields and disciplines have clear applications of their major theories to the study of family violence, for example psychology. Others have been modified by scholars to study phenomena that are neglected or even ignored by their traditional disciplines; for example Black Feminist Criminology was developed in response to a lack of attention to the racialized nature of gendered violence in traditional criminology. Further, some fields are organized around one specific type of violence, such as theories of child abuse and sibling abuse. Finally, some theoretical perspectives, such as feminist theory or theories of public health, are themselves inter-disciplinary. Thus, this book was motivated by our desire, and a demonstrated need, to create a place to consider a variety of different theoretical frames as they are applied to various forms of family violence.