Musical Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives

Author(s): Lee Ross

Edition: 1

Copyright: 2022

Pages: 132

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$82.69

ISBN 9781792476570

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Music Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives will resonate with nearly every person alive. If you love music—but hate violence, especially domestic violence, this book will cause you to stop, think, and feel as you hear messages from your favorite artists, across several genres. Whether it is Country Music, Rhythm and Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rap, Hip-Hop, or Pop, readers will quickly realize that the message is in the music. And if you listen closely, you might also find that music lyrics and domestic violence are the soundtracks of your life.

Lee E. Ross, Professor of Criminal Justice, expert witness, and former group facilitator to a batters’ intervention program, samples music across popular genres and deconstructs their lyrics to explain nearly every facet of domestic violence. From Elvis and the Beatles to Beyonce, Bob Marley, and John Legend; from LL Kool J and Michael Jackson to Eminem and Rhianna; from Jasmine Guy and Christina Aguilera to Pink and Tina Turner, readers will be fascinated to learn what these artists sang about in terms of domestic violence and what many of them experienced.

Since music and violence are universal, this book, Music Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives , has the potential for mass appeal. Interdisciplinary in its focus, each of the ten chapters includes lyrics that capture myriad manifestations of domestic violence, including child abuse, sexual assault, child molestation, dating violence, spousal abuse, male victimization, cycles of violence, and intimate partner homicide, among myriad other forms of domestic violence. The last chapter is devoted to music therapy to demonstrate the healing and therapeutic properties of music.  Beyond music lyrics, this book includes the latest and most scholarly research in the areas of family violence and victimization in general.

This book is an ideal companion reader to the main text in a wide variety of courses and disciplines, including criminal justice, criminology,  sociology, psychology, victimology, musicology, and women’s studies, among others.

Chapter 1: The Nature and Prevalence of Domestic Violence 








Lee Ross

Dr. Lee E. Ross is a Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. As a graduate of Rutgers University, his research interests span a variety of areas, from his seminal work on religion and social control theory to more recent publications in the areas of critical race theory and criminal justice systems' responses to domestic violence. 

As the author of Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice (2018), his scholarship is found in a variety of academic journals, including Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Crime and Justice, and the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Some of his more recent publications examine the relationship between religion, male patriarchy, and domestic violence. Before teaching,  he spent several years as an officer with the United States Customs Service (then, under the Treasury Department). He also served as a group facilitator for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program (DAIP), and later qualified as an expert witness. As a former Provost Fellow, he has earned various awards, including a UCF Teaching Academy Fellow, a COHPA Research Fellow, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Mentor of the Year, and the Becky Tatum Excellence Award (2020). 

Dr. Ross recently was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Coramae Richey Mann Leadership Award. The highest honor bestowed by the Minorities and Women Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, this award recognizes ACJS members who contribute to ethnic and racial diversity in criminal justice education. Honorees endeavor to advance critical thinking concerning women and add to the existing knowledge of gender issues in criminology and criminal justice.

Music Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives will resonate with nearly every person alive. If you love music—but hate violence, especially domestic violence, this book will cause you to stop, think, and feel as you hear messages from your favorite artists, across several genres. Whether it is Country Music, Rhythm and Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rap, Hip-Hop, or Pop, readers will quickly realize that the message is in the music. And if you listen closely, you might also find that music lyrics and domestic violence are the soundtracks of your life.

Lee E. Ross, Professor of Criminal Justice, expert witness, and former group facilitator to a batters’ intervention program, samples music across popular genres and deconstructs their lyrics to explain nearly every facet of domestic violence. From Elvis and the Beatles to Beyonce, Bob Marley, and John Legend; from LL Kool J and Michael Jackson to Eminem and Rhianna; from Jasmine Guy and Christina Aguilera to Pink and Tina Turner, readers will be fascinated to learn what these artists sang about in terms of domestic violence and what many of them experienced.

Since music and violence are universal, this book, Music Lyrics and Domestic Violence: The Soundtracks of Our Lives , has the potential for mass appeal. Interdisciplinary in its focus, each of the ten chapters includes lyrics that capture myriad manifestations of domestic violence, including child abuse, sexual assault, child molestation, dating violence, spousal abuse, male victimization, cycles of violence, and intimate partner homicide, among myriad other forms of domestic violence. The last chapter is devoted to music therapy to demonstrate the healing and therapeutic properties of music.  Beyond music lyrics, this book includes the latest and most scholarly research in the areas of family violence and victimization in general.

This book is an ideal companion reader to the main text in a wide variety of courses and disciplines, including criminal justice, criminology,  sociology, psychology, victimology, musicology, and women’s studies, among others.

Chapter 1: The Nature and Prevalence of Domestic Violence 








Lee Ross

Dr. Lee E. Ross is a Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. As a graduate of Rutgers University, his research interests span a variety of areas, from his seminal work on religion and social control theory to more recent publications in the areas of critical race theory and criminal justice systems' responses to domestic violence. 

As the author of Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice (2018), his scholarship is found in a variety of academic journals, including Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Crime and Justice, and the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Some of his more recent publications examine the relationship between religion, male patriarchy, and domestic violence. Before teaching,  he spent several years as an officer with the United States Customs Service (then, under the Treasury Department). He also served as a group facilitator for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program (DAIP), and later qualified as an expert witness. As a former Provost Fellow, he has earned various awards, including a UCF Teaching Academy Fellow, a COHPA Research Fellow, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Mentor of the Year, and the Becky Tatum Excellence Award (2020). 

Dr. Ross recently was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Coramae Richey Mann Leadership Award. The highest honor bestowed by the Minorities and Women Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, this award recognizes ACJS members who contribute to ethnic and racial diversity in criminal justice education. Honorees endeavor to advance critical thinking concerning women and add to the existing knowledge of gender issues in criminology and criminal justice.