Summary

Violence has become an increasing eminent public health issue among our teens in the United States and dating violence is one area in which teens experience violence.  In 2011, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that approximately 9.4% of high school students reported that they were hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2014)..  Alarmingly, about 1 in 5 women and approximately 1 in 7 who ever experienced partner violence reported that their first encounter with partner violence occurred when they were between the ages of 11 and 17 years (CDC, 2014). 

Teen dating violence encompasses physical, mental, emotional, sexual, and digital abuse.  There are multiple factors that predispose adolescents to dating violence and among them are gender, age, race, academic performance, parental partner violence, psychological stability, and alcohol and illegal drug use.  Teen dating violence has consequences that impact an individuals present and future.  It has been postulated that dating violence may lead to adult intimate partner violence (IPV), chronic illness and diseases, and other long-term issues.  Consequently, teens are the ideal population to educate on intimate partner violence (IPV) since the choices they make will impact their future (CDC, 2014). 

Adolescence is a time of self-exploration and development, and most teens do not have the skills necessary to effectively resolve dating violence.  Therefore, I hope that individuals have learned from this blog that teen dating violence is a problem that needs to be addressed with education and health promotion and prevention programs.  I feel that not only do teens need education, but families, communities, and the population at large are need of increased knowledge on dating violence.  Also, I hope that the readers of this blog have learned what teen dating violence is, how it impacts our youth, and what we need to do to stop dating violence.

References

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  (2014).  Injury prevention and control.  Teen dating violence.  Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html

 

Controversy

Although there has been extensive research on teen dating violence, there continues to be more questions than answers.  Researchers have battled for and against the risk factors that prelude teen dating violence.  There is a debate on whether income, family structure, and maternal education and age have a statistically significant impact on victimization or perpetrators.  Also, school factors, drug and alcohol use, and mental problems were found not to have a large impact alone, but when combined with other risk behavior factors, adolescents were more likely to be victims of dating violence.  Furthermore, research on interpersonal violence among lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) teens is minimal (Capaldi et al., 2012; Eaton et al., 2008) and researchers debate if teens from the LGBT community are at a greater risk for dating violence. 

Some individuals perceive adolescences from the LGBT community at highest risk due to them not wanting to shed light on their intimate relationship due to fear of additional physical, emotional, and or mental abuse (Herman, 2009).  On the other hand, it has been postulated that dating violence among teens from the LGBT community is similar to dating violence among heterosexual teens.  Nevertheless, the most underserved communities in the United States are the young and elderly, females, and minorities (include race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation), therefore, adolescent teens from the LGBT community may experience dating violence at a higher rate than heterosexual teens (Hines & Douglas, 2011). 

References

Capaldi, D. M., Knoble, N. B., Shortt, J. W., & Kim, H. K.  (2012). A systematic review of risk

factors for intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 231-280.

Eaton, L., Kaufman, M., Fuhrel, A., Cain, D., Cherry, C., Pope, H. & Kalichman, S., C.  (2008).  Examining factors co-existing with interpersonal violence in lesbian relationships.  Journal of Family Violence, 23, 697-705.  doi:10.1007/s10896-008-9194-3

Hines, D., A. & Douglas, E., M. (2011).  The reported availability of U.S. domestic violence services to victims who vary by age, sexual orientation, and gender.  Partner Abuse, 2 (1), 3-30.  doi:10.1891/1946-6560.2.1.3

Herrman, J. W. (2009). Theres a fine line...adolescent dating violence and prevention.          

        Pediatric Nursing, 35(3), 164-70.

 

 

 

Strategy Presentation

Dating Violence Themes

A few summers ago I took an elective class that focused on violence and women.  The main focus of the class was the impact of violence against women and how to prevent this phenomenon from occurring.  We had to read a book about saving adolescent women known as Reviving Ophelia.  I perceive this book as provided a good insight into why and how violence against women begins, it begins in adolescence and progresses into adulthood.  Some of the main themes in regards to why violence against women, including dating violence begins, were the following:

·         Girls want to be accepted by boys, so they behave according to the rules developed by boys.

·         Adolescents is a time when the “self” is being formed and if girls do not have a true understanding of who they are, they begin to lose their self and being to conform to what society deems feminine; quiet, nice, non-confrontational, and pleasing to men.

·         Girls with low self-esteem do not the skills to “fight” for her position and “real” self in the world.

·         Parental relationships (as I have stated in previous posts) is crucial to why girls accept dating violence.  Girls who witness her mother as being weak and docile towards aggressive/violent behavior, tend to adapt similar behaviors.

o   Fathers who are overbearing, have male chauvinistic beliefs, and who are sexist tend to have daughters who accept aggressive behaviors from boys/men (Pipher, 1994).

In the end, all of the above issues predisposes young ladies to violence because they are vulnerable and are not equipped to notice or stop a predator before the violence begins because they do not believe that the violence is abnormal.

 References

 

Pipher, M. (1994).  Reviving Ophelia: Saving the selves of adolescent girls. New York, NY:

     Random House. 

 

 

PSA: Friends Can Stop Dating Violence

Adolescents are influenced by their friends, fads, music, television, and other forms of social media; they influence how they behave.  Teenagers want to be liked and accepted by their friends, so they tend to behave as their friends do, no matter the consequences.  So, it is important that adults recognize that dating violence is also influenced by their friend’s opinion(s) (Stephenson, Martsolf, & Draucker, 2013). 

Teenagers impact their friends who are in abusive relationships by being the person who they talk to about the abuse, cheating or flirting with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and or asking their friend to leave the abusive relationship.  Also, teens will make their boyfriend or girlfriend mad by talking about how much they like someone from the opposite sex.  Examples of how adolescents get involved in their friends abusive relationships are: watching the abusive act, keeping tabs on the person being abused, encouraging their friend to abuse their boyfriend or girlfriend, and some friends will stop being friends when they find out their friend is being abused (Stephenson et al., 2013)

So how do we use friend to help stop dating violence? 

• We can have discussions with teenagers on they think they are involved in the dating violence of their friends.

• We can use short videos that show scenarios about dating violence and ask teenagers to tell us how the friends of the abusive person was involved in the relationship.

References

 

Stephenson, P. S., Martsolf, D., & Draucker, C. B. (2013). Peer involvement in adolescent dating

 

     violence. The Journal of School Nursing, 29(3), 204-11.

 

     doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059840512469232

 

 

Hello

Hi everyone, it's Monique