TEEN DATING VIOLENCE
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Teen Dating Violence : A Closer Look at Adolescent Romantic Relationships
by Carrie Mulford , Ph . D ., and Peggy C . Giordano , Ph . D .
Most teenagers do not experience physical aggression when they date . However , for one in 10 teens , abuse is a very real part of dating relationships .
According to the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey , approximately 10 percent of adolescents nationwide reported being the victim of physical violence at the hands of a romantic partner during the previous year . The rate of psychological victimization is even higher : Between two and three in 10 reported being verbally or psychologically abused in the previous year , according to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health .
As for perpetration rates , there are currently no nationwide estimates for who does the abusing , and state estimates vary significantly . In South Carolina , for example , nearly 8 percent of adolescents reported being physically violent to a romantic partner . Interestingly , the rates of reported victimization versus perpetration in the state were similar for boys and girls . However , when it comes to severe teen dating violence — including sexual and physical assault — girls were disproportionately the victims .
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At a recent workshop on teen dating violence , co-sponsored by the U . S . Departments of Justice ( DOJ ) and Health and Human Services ( HHS ), researchers presented findings from several studies that found that girls and boys perpetrate the same frequency of physical aggression in romantic relationships . This finding was at odds with what practitioners attending the workshop said they encounter in their professional experience . Most of the practitioners in attendance — representing national organizations , schools and victim service community-based agencies — said that they primarily see female victims , and when they discuss teen dating violence with students , they hear that boys are the primary perpetrators .
So what is the reality ?
Because teen dating violence has only recently been recognized as a significant public health problem , the complex nature of this phenomenon is not fully understood . Although research on rates of perpetration and victimization exists , research that examines the problem from a longitudinal perspective and considers the dynamics of teen romantic relationships is lacking . Consequently , those in the field have to rely on an adult framework to examine the problem of teen dating violence .
However , we find that this adult framework does not take into account key differences between adolescent and adult romantic relationships . And so , to help further the discussion , we offer in this article a gender-based analysis of teen dating violence with a developmental perspective . We look at what we know — and what we don ’ t know — about who is the perpetrator and who is the victim in teen dating violence . We also discuss how adult and adolescent romantic relationships differ in the hope that an examination of existing research will help us better understand the problem and move the field toward the creation of developmentally appropriate prevention programs and effective interventions for teenagers .
14 | Illinois Winter 2014 | abusemagazine . org
Source : National Institute Of Justice