Teen Dating Violence
Beg. Jan. 2014
By Jane Powers and Erica Kerman
February 2006
Cornell University
Family Life Development Center
1. In the past several decades, dating violence has developed as a significant
social and public health problem. Dating violence is defined as the physical,
sexual, psychological, or emotional violence within a dating relationship.
Much of the dating violence research, however, had focused on adult couples
or college students. Only recently has attention been paid to dating violence
among teens who are high school students. As teens develop emotionally,
they are heavily influenced by their relationship experiences. Healthy
relationship behaviors can have a positive effect on a teen’s emotional
development. Unhealthy, abusive or violent relationships can cause short
term and long term negative effects, or consequences to the developing teen.
Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to do poorly in school, and
report binge drinking, suicide attempts, and physical fighting. Victims may
also carry the patterns of violence into future relationships. Teen dating
violence is a significant problem not only because of its alarming frequency
and physical and mental health consequences, but also because it occurs at
a life stage when romantic relationships are beginning and communication
styles are forming.
2. Teen dating violence ranges from emotional and verbal abuse to rape and murder.
Unfortunately, adolescents often have difficulty recognizing physical and sexual
abuse as actual abuse and may perceive controlling and jealous behaviors as signs
of love. Perhaps due to their need for independence and greater belief in their peers,
teens who are involved in dating violence seldom report the violence to a parent or
adult; if it is reported, most tell a friend so the incident never reaches an adult who
could help.
Frequency Rates
3. A large amount of research has been conducted to measure frequency of teen
dating violence. A recent national survey found that approximately 12% of high
school students reported experiencing physical violence in a dating relationship
(Centers for Disease Control, 2000). A wide range in frequency rates may be due to
several factors. First, there appears to be no standard definition of dating violence.
Whereas some researchers include psychological and emotional abuse in their
definition of dating violence (e.g., intimidation, verbal abuse, and monitoring a
partner’s whereabouts), others use a more restrictive definition that includes only
physically violent acts such as slapping, pushing, hitting, kicking, or choking.
Secondly, complicating the matter is that sexual violence is often excluded in the
definition of dating violence.
4. Another reason for the difference in frequency rates is that many studies consider
violence in a single or recent relationship whereas others consider violence
occurring in multiple relationships.
5. Confusion regarding rates of violence also arises because dating violence reports
from either the perpetrator or the victim are merely added together. Therefore, rates
of violence may be inaccurate. How do officials learn that violence has occurred
between teens on a date? They rely on the individuals to report. Researchers point
out that a male and female may report the same incident differently. For example, if
a male is the perpetrator, he may under report, may deny or even may minimize his
own aggression whereas a female who is the victim may feel that her actions drove
the perpetrator to react vilonetly towards her and therefore over report and
exaggerate the incident in order to accept blame.
6. Despite the problems in estimating frequency rates, it is likely that physical
aggression occurs in one out of three adolescent dating relationships. Among highrisk youth who live in disadvantaged urban communities, dating violence may be
even more common. One study found that among a sample of 14- to 16-year-old
girls from poor families, over half had experienced sexual and physical violence at
the hands of a dating partner. Another study found that 68% of males and 33% of
females attending high school for at-risk youth reported being violent against a
current or recent dating partner.
Mutual Aggression
7. Studies consistently indicate that non-sexual violence in teen dating
relationships involves the give-and-take use of violence by both partners.
Several studies have found that girls inflict more physical violence than boys.
When sexual violence is examined, however, dramatic gender differences
emerge with females suffering significantly more sexual violence than males.
8. A different study found that males and females do not perceive being the
victim of dating violence in the same way. One study found that adolescent
boys were less likely than girls to perceive incidents of dating violence as
physically or psychologically threatening or damaging. Females report more
negative emotional consequences of the violence including experiencing
greater fear for their safety. Whereas female victims indicate “emotionally
hurt” and “fear” as the two primary effects for them, males indicate “thought it
was funny” and “anger.”
9. Comparing or measuring physical and emotional suffering is a problem. Due
to males’ greater size and strength, the greater physical harm can be inflicted
by male violence. Compared to the injuries boys might experience, girls are
more likely to be injured and require medical treatment as a result of the
violence. Another problem is measuring the long-term suffering and
subsequent results of violence. Violent relationships in adolescence can have
serious ramifications by putting the victims at higher risk for substance abuse,
eating disorders, risky sexual behavior and further domestic violence.
10. Gender also appears to influence motives for violence. One researcher reported that
whereas both males and females cited anger as the most frequently mentioned
motive, self-defense was the second most frequently cited motive for girls, but for
boys it was the desire to get control over their partner.
Prevention Programs
11. The current research provides enough information to guide professionals to
design prevention programs and target high-risk individuals.The research points
to several key factors that should be targeted to prevent dating violence. The
priority should be changing customs that are associated with dating violence, and
throwing out myths that underline the acceptance and justification of violence.
Violence must not be condoned, justified, or glamorized. If teens have friends in
violent dating relationships, they will expect and allow their own relationships to
use violence. A primary prevention program should include educating about the
different forms of relationship violence and the early warning signs. Education
should also include understanding the dynamics of intimidation, power, and
control that underlie relationship violence. Teaching communication and conflict
resolution skills will help teams build healthy relationships.
Vocabulary
Find these words in the text. Underline each word. Understand its meaning in context.
Paragraph 1
significant
to focus
Paragraph 2
seldom
Paragraph 3
rate
whereas
abuse
Paragraph 5
inaccurate
Paragraph 6
to indicate
Paragraph 7
perceive
negative
to include
effects
Paragraph 9
to reduce
Teen Dating Violence - Comprehension Questions
1. Why is teen dating violence a problem?
a._________________________________________________________
b._________________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
2. Paragraph 2
Put a check (V) next to the THREE reasons why teenagers “seldom report the
violence to a parent or an adult”
___ It is difficult for them to recognize jealousy as love.
___ Teenagers want to be independent.
___ Teenagers seldom tell their friends about dating violence.
___ Teenagers believe their boyfriends and girlfriends.
___They have difficulty identifying physical abuse.
3. Paragraphs 3-5:
Why is it difficult to measure the frequency of dating violence?
a.___________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________
d. ___________________________________________________
4. What is the difference between males and females in reporting the cases of
violence?
Unlike males, females tend to underreport their own aggression.
TRUE / FALSE
Support your answer by quoting from the text
__________________________________________________________
5. What is the general point of paragraph 6?
_____________________________________________________________
6. What is the difference between non-sexual and sexual violence in teen dating
relationships?
In non-sexual teen dating relationships, violence is inflicted by ____________,
while in sexual relationships it is inflicted mostly by ____________________.
7. a. What is the main idea of paragraph 8?
It discusses several differences in how _________________________________
________________________________________________________________.
b. How do females perceive being the victim of dating violence?
i. ___________________________________________________________.
ii. ___________________________________________________________.
iii. ___________________________________________________________.
8. How does gender affect perceiving the incidents of dating violence?
Circle your choice.
The attitude of males and females to being a victim of dating violence is
similar / different. Males tend to express more fear / anger, while females report
more fear / anger.
9. What are the motives for violence stated in paragraph 10?
a._____________________.
b._____________________.
c._____________________.
10. Paragraph 11
The author points “several key factors that should be targeted to prevent
dating violence”.
Which one does he consider the most important?
___________________________________________________
11. What important skills for building healthy relationships should be taught?
a.________________________________________________
b.________________________________________________
12. What is the author’s main purpose in writing this article?
a. to measure the frequency of dating violence among high school students.
b. to explain why teenagers are more violent than college students and
adults.
c. to draw professionals’ attention to the problem of teen dating violence
d. to prove that prevention programs cannot solve the problem of teen dating
violence.
Exercise 1
Match the words in column A with their synonyms in Column B:
1. to stress
___
a. important
2. seldom
___
b. scale
3. significant
___
c. while
4. whereas
___
d. to emphasize
5. rate
___
e. rarely
Exercise 2
Match the words in column A with their antonyms in Column B:
1. to reduce
___
a. to exclude
2. inaccurate
___
b. causes
3. negative
___
c. to increase
4. effects
___
d. exact
5. to include
___
e. positive
Exercise 3
Complete the following sentences with the words below:
significant
abuse
inaccurate
indicates
perceive
1. Parents should be able to ______________that something is wrong with their
children.
2. The prince’s wedding is a ______________event in the history of the country.
3. ________________data may lead to wrong conclusions.
4. Both physical and emotional _______________should be included in the
definition of dating violence.
5.
High body temperature _________________ a serious illness.