Welcome to Day 3 (Post #2) of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Today's topic is dating violence.
Dating violence has been back in the spotlight in the last few years, with multiple stories in the news as well as its presence in some fiction books and films (Twilight, anyone?). Many scholars and bloggers have taken on the beast that is the Twilight series, so I don't intend to do that here, as much as I want to. I'd like to share some basic statistics and information about dating violence and move on to talking about recent research on prevention efforts in schools, something that is particularly close to my heart, given my background in violence prevention and work with youth.
The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national survey administered every two years among high school students throughout the United States, found that 9.8% of students nationwide had been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend during the 12 months preceding the survey.
A recent study by Wolitzy-Taylor et al.found the prevalence of serious dating violence (sexual assault, physical assault, and/or drug/alcohol-facilitated rape perpetrated by a girlfriend, boyfriend, or other dating partner) among 12-17 year olds to be 1.6% (2.7% of girls, 0.6% of boys) which equates to about 400,000 adolescents in the U.S. population. The study also found that dating violence is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive episode. The authors of the study note that, given the prevalence of dating violence among adolescents, we have a serious public health problem on our hands.
The CDC's 2010 Teen Dating Violence Fact Sheet states that, not surprisingly, dating violence can have negative effects on teens throughout their lives. Teens who are victims of dating violence are more likely to be depressed and do poorly in school. They may engage in unhealthy behaviors, like using drugs and alcohol, and they are more likely to have eating disorders. Some teens think about or attempt suicide. Finally, teens who are victims in high school are at higher risk for victimization during college.
Sounds like a hefty problem we have on our hands. Thankfully agencies like the CDC and many other organizations have been doing research on preventing teen dating violence. There are already great school-based programs out there, such as Safe Dates, that work to change norms and improve social skills, in order to prevent teen dating violence. (For an overview of long term effects of the Safe Dates program, check out this article) I review some research on school-based programs below.
Wolfe et al. found that a curriculum delivered by teachers with additional training in the dynamics of dating violence and healthy relationships that integrated dating violence prevention messages throughout lessons about healthy relationships, sexual health, and substance use prevention using interactive exercises, had some positive results.The authors found that the use of the curriculum reduced physical dating violence and increased condom use 2.5 years later at a low per-student cost (about $16).
Another study, which evaluated a youth dating violence prevention program in New York City middle schools, found fairly positive results. The program was implemented at two levels, building level and classroom level. The building-based intervention included the use of temporary school-based restraining orders, higher levels of faculty and security presence in areas identified by students as hot spots and the use of posters to increase awareness and reporting of dating violence to school personnel. The classroom level intervention included a six-session curriculum which touched on topics such as consequences for perpetrators, state laws and penalties related to dating violence, gender roles and healthy relationships (Taylor et al.).
The authors of the study noted the following findings among the experimental group, compared to the control group:
The combination of the classroom and building interventions increased student knowledge about laws and consequences about dating violence and sexual harassment.
The students receiving the building intervention were more likely to intend to avoid perpetrating violence (more pro‐social behavioral intentions) immediately after the intervention.
The “building only” intervention was associated with more positive intentions to intervene as a bystander six months post intervention.
The combination of the classroom and building interventions and the building intervention alone reduced sexual harassment (victimization and perpetration) by 26‐34% six months post follow‐up.
The building intervention reduced victimization and perpetration of physical and sexual dating violence by about 50% up to six months after the intervention.
The combination of the classroom and building interventions and the building intervention alone led to 32‐47% lower peer sexual violence victimization and perpetration up to six months after the intervention.
The building only and combination interventions (building and classroom interventions) appeared to be effective at reducing dating violence, while the classroom sessions alone were not effective (Taylor et al.).
While teen dating violence statistics can be quite depressing, there is hope. Various school-based prevention programs have shown some positive effects, but more long term research is needed to see if the effects remain over time.
Originally posted at http://minneapolitanmademoiselle.blogspot.com
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Understanding teen dating violence: Fact sheet, 2010. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/...
Eaton, D.K, Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., Ross, J.Hawkins, J. Harris, W. ...Wechsler, H. (2010). Youth risk behavior surveillance - United States, 2009. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 59(SS-5). Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/....
Taylor, B., Stein, N.D., Woods, D. Mumford, E. (2011). Shifting boundaries: Final report on an experimental evaluation of a youth dating violence prevention program in New York City middle schools. Available at: https:/www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236175.pdf
Wolfe, D.A., Crooks, C., Jaffe, P., Chiodo, D., Hughes, R., Ellis, W., Stitt, L., ... Donner, A. (2009). A school based program to prevent adolescent dating violence. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 163(8): 692-699. Available at: http://youthrelationships.org/...
Wolitzy-Taylor, K.B., Ruggiero, K.J., Danielson, C.K., Resnick, H.S., Hanson, R.F., Smith, D.W., Saunders, B.E. ...Kilpatrick, D.G. (2008). Prevalence and correlates of dating violence in a national sample of adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(7): 755-762. Available at http://www.ncdsv.org/...