Running

head: DATING VIOLENCE

Dating Violence
Kathryn Sape
Wayne State University

Running head: DATING VIOLENCE

The Issue of Dating Violence

Dating violence is a very serious issue that is not addressed as often and as successfully
as it should be. Just as domestic violence in grown adult relationships and marriages can be a
very dangerous and even deadly problem, the same is true for dating violence in adolescence.
Dating violence that occurs among adolescents can be physical, psychological, and sexual. It can
happen to both boys and girls, although just as with the issue of domestic violence mostly
focuses on women, when the issue of dating violence is brought up it is mostly associated with
girls. Also dating violence can happen in any romantic relationship, whether it is heterosexual or
homosexual.
Dating violence can be a difficult issue to deal with because of the age group this
population is. While people are just starting to date they are starting a new time in their life
experiencing all kinds of new things in their personal lives and in their relationships. People of
this age group can be confused of what should and should not be tolerated in a relationship. If
abuse is present in a relationship, it may be difficult for them to reach out and get help. It is
important that research is done in this area so that it is known how big of a problem this is and
what kind of abuse is commonly accepted among adolescents. Work needs to be done to prevent
harm to young people who may be experiencing dating violence. There also has to be available
help to those in danger.
Research and Intervention
There have been plenty of different types of studies on the topic of dating violence. Some
have gathered general information about the problem in terms of how prevalent the problem is.
Other research has been done focused on specific interventions to help this population and how
successful they are. One article called Participation in Prevention Programs for Dating Violence:

Running head: DATING VIOLENCE

Beliefs About Relationship Violence and Intention to Participate, focuses on physical and
psychological aggression in adolescent heterosexual relationships (Cornelius, Sullivan,
Wyngarden, & Milliken, 2009). This article also focused on how likely it would be for someone
to get involved in some type of intervention or program that could be beneficial to them. One
major point that this article made was that, beliefs about one's susceptibility to dating violence
and the benefits of prevention programs predicted intention to participate, as did beliefs about the
inconvenience of participating and potentially learning something about one's relationship that
one does not want to know (Cornelius, Sullivan, Wyngarden, & Milliken, 2009).
This study addressed the problem and focused on what could make a person want to take
part in prevention programs or not (Cornelius, Sullivan, Wyngarden, & Milliken, 2009). This is
important information to know because any program meant to help this vulnerable population
should be easily accessed with limited risks, which is important in regards to social work values.
Although there are some good things about this research it only addresses part of the population.
The participants in the study came from one university, were mostly non-Hispanic white
females, and were all in heterosexual relationships (Cornelius, Sullivan, Wyngarden, & Milliken,
2009). This study may give an idea of what the feelings are on this subject but it is not an
accurate representation of the population in need and should have been done with a better
sample. There were no cultural concerns that seemed to needed to be taken into account because
most all of the participants were from a similar background.
An article called, Theres a Fine Line...Adolescent Dating Violence and Prevention, is
directed towards nurses and their ability to help victims in violent dating situations (Herman,
2009). Although it is directed for the nursing field this article can be very useful to social
workers because they have many of the same values in their efforts to help the vulnerable. A

Running head: DATING VIOLENCE

key role for nurses is referral to appropriate agencies for legal advice, law enforcement, client
protection, avenues of recourse, child support, mentoring, counseling, and access to other
resources for both the perpetrator and the victim (Herman, 2009). These would be some of the
same roles and steps that a social worker would take.
This article takes into account all the different forms of dating violence for all different
types of people from different backgrounds, which is very important (Herman, 2009). There is
information about risk factors, ways to detect dating violence, and interventions. Primary
preventive programming may include education about situations that may lead to dating
violence, recognizing signs of violence in a relationship, and the rights that are the foundation of
intimate relationships (Herman, 2009). This article then goes on to talk about some specific
preventive programing such as the Safe Dates Program.
One article titled, Assessing the Long-Term Effects of the Safe Dates Program and a
Booster in Preventing and Reducing Adolescent Dating Violence Victimization and Perpetration,
gives information about how successful the Safe Dates Program is. The Safe Dates Program is a
randomized controlled trial for testing the effects of a school-based intervention on the
prevention and reduction of dating violence among adolescents (Foshee, Bauman, Ennett,
Linder, Benefild, & Suchindran, 2004). This happened to be quite successful; however the
Booster Program that followed for a few years after, sending out more information on the issue
of dating violence seemed to be less impactful (Foshee, Bauman, Ennett, Linder, Benefild, &
Suchindran, 2004).
The Safe Dates Program got appropriate consent to try this preventative intervention,
which is important to social work ethics. They used this program on a random sample of schools
including a wider variety of students and included both males and females (Foshee, Bauman,

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Ennett, Linder, Benefild, & Suchindran, 2004). I think that the Safe Dates Program is a great
way to try to help solve the problem of dating violence among youth. This is taking time out to
give information to students in school, where most of their relationships form. I think that it
helps provide a culture in the school that leads to more healthy relationships. One thing that I
would change would be to take out the Booster Program, which seemed to be less effective. I
think that this is because it is less assertive and does not have the impact that face-to-face
interactions have. Instead of the Booster Program I would suggest another Safe Dates Program
later on in school years, slightly altered to the now older age group and problems that may come
along with that. Also there should be easy access to counseling, perhaps in schools, without fear
of risk that may come with speaking out against violence.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Evidence Based Practice
The use of evidence based practice with the population of adolescents susceptible to
dating violence can be very helpful when getting a general idea of the issue and ways to then
help this population. It is important to understand the problem from the populations point of
view. For example, much research suggested that what may or may not be acceptable in dating
can be different for different people. Also this allows different perspectives and interventions
that are available. By gaining information like this we as social workers are more able to help.
The disadvantage to evidence based practice is that no research is perfect. You can only
get a sample of the population and there are always other factors that may be involved that are
overlooked. There even may be entire populations that are overlooked. In the research on dating
violence one downfall was the lack of information for males as victims of dating violence. There
are attempts to include this population but females overwhelmingly make up most of the
statistics and participants in research. There was also little to no information on relationships

Running head: DATING VIOLENCE

other than heterosexual. Another weakness is that some forms of dating violence, such as the
sexual violence aspect of it, were sometimes overlooked. All of these disadvantages prove that
there is always more knowledge to be gained concerning a specific topic. As social workers, in
order to stay competent we must not only look at research of others, but also do some research
ourselves to catch anything others may have missed.

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7
References

Cornelius, T. L., Sullivan, K. T., Wyngarden, N., & Milliken, J. C. (2009). Participation in
prevention programs for dating violence: Beliefs about relationship violence and
intention to participate. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 1057-1078.
Foshee, V. A., Bauman, K. E., Ennett, S. T., Linder, G. F., Benefield, T., & Suchindran, C.
(2004). Assessing the long-term effects of the safe dates program and a booster in
preventing and reducing adolescent dating violence victimization and perpetration.
American Journal of Public Health, 94, 619-624.
Herman, J. W. (2009). There's a fine lineadolescent dating violence and prevention. Pediatric
Nursing, 35, 164-170.