The relationship between class and intimate violence against women is much misunderstood. While many studies of intimate violence focus on poor and working-class women, few examine the issue comparatively in terms of class privilege and class disadvantage. James Ptacek draws on in-depth interviews with sixty women from wealthy, professional, working-class, and poor communities to investigate how social class shapes both women's experiences of violence and the responses of their communities to this violence. Ptacek's framing of women's victimization as "social entrapment" links private violence to public responses and connects social inequalities to the dilemmas that women face.

"Destined to become a classic." - ACJS Today

"Ptacek’s book is a must read for anyone in the field of violence against women. It is a progressive breath of fresh air and makes a sorely needed contribution to feminist sociological understandings of a subject too often neglected in existing scholarship – the powerful relationship between social class and violence against women. Feeling Trapped is destined to become a classic." - The British Journal of Criminology

"In Feeling Trapped, Ptacek offers an important glimpse into the lives of women who have been victims of IPV(intimate partner violence)…Consequently, it is a crime that can be difficult to understand, but with this work, Ptacek gives us a close view of the intricacies of IPV and how it impacts women from all socioeconomic backgrounds."
  - Criminal Justice Review