Teen Dating Violence

My co-counsellor and I were running a workshop on teenage pregnancy recently at an inner city school in Cape Town. The focus of my discussion during our workshop was mainly on healthy and unhealthy relationships.  Of the 60 participants, female grade ten learners, almost a third requested counselling after this topic discussion. I was taken by surprise when it emerged that the majority of these girls presented problems with teen dating violence. Most of them were victims of violence, being abused within the context of dating. Some others admitted to perpetrating abuse in their dating relationships. This was an unsettling discovery and I was prompted to further investigate date related abuse among teens.

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a serious and potentially fatal form of relationship violence in adolescence. The data shows very high incidence and prevalence of exposure to TDV among adolescents and teens, but it has been largely overlooked as an issue that can have serious and potentially fatal consequences. Adolescents have long been overlooked as a population that suffers from relationship abuse (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/TeenDatingViolence2012-a.pdf). Research literature on this age-group has been scarce and confusion remains in healthcare communities about the definition, implications and effective intervention methods.

The research literature does not provide a uniform definition on TDV, and definitions vary in comprehensiveness. The restrictive definition only includes ‘physical force or threats of force against a current or former intimate partner’, while a broader definition includes ‘a continuum of controlling or dominating acts that cause some degree of harm’ (Wekerle and Wolfe, 1999). It includes most commonly physical abuse, psychological/emotional/verbal abuse, and sexual abuse within the context of dating or courtship.

Bearing in mind that only 35% of youths between the ages of 13 -17 report crimes against themselves, the statistics tell a disturbing story (Close, 2005):


·        Almost 30% of teens age 14 – 17 report that they, or someone they know, has experienced dating violence;
·        1 in 5 female high school students report being abused by a boyfriend;
·        33% of teenage girls report having experienced physical violence by a dating partner;
·        38% of date rape victims are between 14 and 17 years old;
·        Between 1993 and 1999, 22% of all homicides against females ages 16 to 19 were committed by an   intimate partner;
·        The potential threat for violent behavior appears to escalate as the relationship becomes more serious

Many research studies have highlighted the serious consequences of dating violence (Joyce, 2004). Apart from physical injuries and fatalities, studies have shown a range of mental health issues arising from TDV: post-traumatic stress, lower self-esteem, decline in school achievement, and increases in eating disordersand substance use. Studies also revealed a prevalence of negative mood and behaviour following the abuse, and that these effects tend to be enduring over time.

Despite the alarming statistics TDV attract little national attention and although it causes significant damages, communities, authorities, schools, parents and victims continue to deny the seriousness of the problem. This minimization of the deleterious effects of TDV stresses the urgency for serious responses to the problem. It is a call for both intervention program initiatives and legal reforms.

In the United States some organisations have started to address the challenge of TDV by implementing programs that mainly focuses on prevention and education, or on counseling and intervention. Prevention and education programs seek to reduce TDV and to promote healthy relationships by teaching conflict handling, critical thinking and communication skills.They explore for example power and control, gender stereotypes, gender based violence and nonviolent ways to deal with disappointment and anger. Counselling and intervention programs intervene directly on teens’ lives and focus on support structures, behavioural changes and to enhance teens’ capacity to solve problems without abusing others (Foshee et al., 2004).

Unfortunately legal options available to teens are limited as they do not possess the same legal status, and therefore rights, as adults (Offenhauser&Buchalter, 2011). Furthermore, teens generally do not have the same resource options that are available to adult victims of violence, for example access to domestic violence shelters. In 2007, in response to a dating violence fatality, the Lindsay Ann Burke Act was passed and Rhode Island, US, became the first state to require that seventh to twelfth grade learners be educated about violence in dating relationships.

A better understanding of the risk factors and predictors of TDV can facilitate early intervention and better prevention programs. More research is however necessary on effective screening and intervention methods.Due to the damaging and ongoing negative impact that TDV has on the psychological health of adolescents, as well as being potentially lethal, pressure should be sustained for statutory reforms to ensure minors’ expanded access to the justice system. Awareness-raising programs in schools and communitiescould also make a contribution.

References

Close, S.M. (2005).Dating Violence Prevention in Middle School and High School Youth.Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 18, 2–9.

Fact Sheet in Prevention and Control, (2012).Understanding Teen Dating Violence.http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/TeenDatingViolence2012-a.pdf

Foshee, V.A., Bauman K.E., Ennett, S.T., Linder, G.F., Benefield, T., and Suchindran, C.(2004). Assessing the Long-Term Effects of the Safe Dates Program and Booster in Preventing and Reducing Adolescent Dating Violence Victimization and Perpetration.American Journal of Public Health, 94 (4), 619–24.

Joyce, E. (2004). Teen Dating Violence: Facing the Epidemic. Networks, 37(3), 1-9.

Offenhauser, P., Buchalter, A. (2011). Teen Dating Violence: A Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography. A report prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 235368.

Werkerle, C., & Wolfe, D. (1999).Dating violence in mid-adolescence: theory, significance, and emerging prevention initiatives.Clinical Psychology Review, 19(4), 435-456.

The Power of Family Versus the Powerless Family

Stephen Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources (COR) theory teaches us that individuals become stressed when their resources are lost or threatened; resources being those things which we value - social status, positive social support, knowledge, certain personality traits, employment and so on.

The implication of a theory such as COR, is that a successful psychological intervention will focus on helping individuals and communities to build and strengthen particular resources in order to buffer the negative effects of stress and trauma.

The family unit has the potential to be an incredible source of support, acceptance and encouragement; shielding individuals from the effects of stress and trauma. In South Africa, however, too often the family unit is not functioning in this way. Rather, many families are crippled by broken relationships and multiple stressors such as financial shortages, drug and gang ridden communities and unemployment.

Weak, broken families can, in large part, be attributed to a general lack in parenting skills, and spousal/partner relationship skills. Children don’t confide in their parents, they learn early on that it is ‘better to cheat on your partner before they cheat on you’ and if not neglected and ignored, are punished by their parent’s fists. Many of the social ills that we see in contemporary society are, to a large extent, the result of family break down and dysfunction.

Naseera Ebrahim, a Parent Support Group Facilitator at the Parent Centre, states that many negative parenting styles are a result of parents’ own traumatic experiences that were never resolved. Ebrahim has found that when the parents that she works with realise that their parenting is hugely dependent on their own healing, they are then able to start their own journey of “personal growth and positive parenting”.

The Family Life Centre’s Liz Dooley believes that “we need to help family members learn the skills of communication, to talk to each other, to share and show acceptance and understanding of each other.  We need to help them to grow and change.  Parents should be role models for their children; showing love and tolerance for each other but also having boundaries and setting limits”.

John, a member of CASE’s Men’s Project (a community project  in Hanover Park, Cape Town), was equipped with parenting skills, marriage skills and helped to totally review what he sees as his role as the father and husband. Through this experience he says his life has been changed. He now talks to his children, and realises the importance of encouraging them and spending time with them. He sees his wife as an equal partner who needs his respect and care.

Bearing this information in mind, healthy families may be one of the most undervalued resources in South Africa and one of the most powerful tools for counteracting, and enabling individuals and communities to deal with traumatic events. Effective marriages and effective parent-child relationships create a stable, strong and fulfilling environment that can guard against the negative effects of trauma.