3 Review(s)

David Peterson del Mar centres his history of violence against wives on the state of Oregon. What causes such violence? Has it changed over time? How does it relate to the state of society as a whole? And how have women tried to stop it, resist it, escape it? These are the questions Peterson del Mar pursues. Thousands of documented divorce cases from the Oregon circuit courts are recorded. They speak of a society that quietly condoned wife beating until the spread of an ethos of self-restraint in the late-19th century. And then, Peterson del Mar finds, the practice increased with the expressive individualism of the 20th century. "What Trouble I Have Seen" also traces a shift in wives' response to their husbands' violence. Settler and Native American women commonly fought abusive mates. Most wives of the late-19th century acted more cautiously and relied on others for protection. But 20th century privatism, Peterson del Mar discovers, often isolated modern wives from family and neighbours, casting abused women on the mercy of the police, women's shelters, and, most important, their own resources.Thus a new emphasis on self-realization, even as it stimulated violence among men, enhanced the ability of women to resist and escape violent husbands.