The relationship between social support and adolescent dating violence: a comparison across genders

Although much research has focused on the function of social support in adult intimate partner violence, little is known about the role of social support in adolescent dating violence. This study is an exploratory analysis of the independent impact of social support from friends and family on the risk of adolescent dating violence perpetration and victimization among a large sample of youth (n = 970). Approximately, 21% of the sample reported experiencing victimization in a dating relationship whereas 23% indicated perpetrating dating violence. Male youth reported significantly more involvement in dating violence as both perpetrators and victims. Negative binomial regression modeling indicated that increased levels of support from friends was associated with significantly less dating violence perpetration and victimization; however, when gendered models were explored, the protective role of social support was only maintained for female youth. Family support was not significantly related to dating violence in any model. Implications for dating violence curriculum and future research are addressed.     

Poor parenting and antisocial behavior among homeless young adults: links to dating violence perpetration and victimization

Though research has examined risk factors associated with street victimization among homeless young people, little is known about dating violence experiences among this group. Given homeless youths' elevated rates of child maltreatment, it is likely that they are at high risk for dating violence. As such, the current study examined the association between child maltreatment and parental warmth with dating violence perpetration and victimization through substance use and delinquency among a sample of 172 homeless males and females. Results from path analysis revealed that physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were all significant correlates of both substance use and delinquency, whereas lack of parental warmth was only associated with substance use. Neglect and substance use had direct effects on dating violence and substance use and was found to mediate the relationship between physical abuse and dating violence. Finally, females, older youth, and non-Whites had significantly higher levels of dating violence compared with their counterparts.     

The Influence of Dating Relationships on Friendship Networks,Identity Development,and Delinquency

Prior research has documented general associations between dating and delinquency, but little is known about the specific ways in which heterosexual experiences influence levels of delinquency involvement and substance use. In the current study, we hypothesize that an adolescent's level of effort and involvement in heterosexual relationships play a significant role in forming the types of friendship networks and views of self that influence the likelihood of delinquency involvement and substance use. Analyses based on a longitudinal sample of adolescent youth (n = 1,090) show that high levels of dating effort and involvement with multiple partners significantly increases unstructured and delinquent peer contacts, and influences self‐views as troublemaker. These broader peer contexts and related self‐views, in turn, mediate the path between dating relationships, self‐reported delinquency, and substance use. Findings also document moderation effects: among those youths who have developed a troublemaker identity and who associate with delinquent peers, dating heightens the risk for delinquent involvement. In contrast, among those individuals who have largely rejected the troublemaker identity and who do not associate with delinquent friends, dating relationships may confer a neutral or even protective benefit. The analyses further explore the role of gender and the delinquency of the romantic partner.     

Dating norms and dating violence among ninth graders in Northeast Georgia: reports from student surveys and focus groups

This mixed-methods study describes the norms supporting male-to-female and female-to-male dating violence in a diverse sample of ninth graders. The quantitative study, based on student surveys (n = 624), compared norms supporting dating violence by sex, race/ethnicity, and dating status, and it examined the relation between dating violence norms and physical aggression and victimization. The qualitative study, based on 12 focus groups, explored participants' views of dating aggression. Findings revealed more support for female-to-male aggression, greater acceptance of norms supporting dating violence by non-White students, a strong association between norms and physical aggression but only in males, and a high correlation between victimization and perpetration. Participants rejected male-to-female dating aggression because of peer pressure not to hit girls, parents' beliefs that denounce dating violence, the superior physical advantage of boys over girls, and legal consequences. Results highlight the importance of culturally sensitive and gender-specific interventions.     

“Nerve” and violent encounters: An assessment of fearlessness in the face of danger

The findings from a large body of research on the ecology of violence indicate that individuals demonstrate a willingness to engage in violence to reduce their risk for violent victimization. Scholars have suggested that a reputation for toughness and aggression acts as an informal signal that deters mistreatment. Anderson (1999), in his street code thesis, in particular, argued that adherence to the street code functions as a signal that reduces violent victimization risk. Other research findings, however, reveal that the street code leads to an increase in victimization risk; moreover, violent offenders are routinely victimized at high rates given their lifestyle and routine activities. The evidence, therefore, does not show support for the position that a reputation for toughness or aggression effectively reduces violent victimization. In the current study, we operationalize the concept of nerve, which findings from criminological studies indicate is an important mechanism for protecting adolescents from victimization. Using data from the second national evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training Program, we test this operationalization of nerve to determine whether the concept is associated with later violent offending and violent victimization in ways consistent with theory and research on the ecology of youth violence. Our results demonstrate support for the notion that nerve is positively associated with violent offending, whereas those at the highest levels of this construct experience fewer violent victimizations.     

Peer Group Delinquency and Sexual Victimization: Does Popularity Matter?

Though a large body of research has found that peer social network characteristics influence both offending and victimization, relatively little is known about the influence of social network characteristics on adolescent sexual victimization. Attractiveness and sociability largely indicate popularity for teenage females, which in turn leads to earlier onset of dating, greater dating options, and potential risk of sexual victimization—an observation not tested in the criminological and criminal justice literature. We suggest and evaluate 2 competing hypotheses: that popularity within a network insulates females from sexual victimization and that popularity may increase exposure to delinquent others and facilitate sexual victimization. Results suggest that popularity does not have a consistent effect but instead that its role is conditioned by the deviance of the network. Popularity is associated with an increase in the likelihood of victimization when peer deviance is high but with a decrease when peer deviance is low. We further demonstrate that an interaction between a female's own drinking and the proportion of her friends that are male strongly affects her likelihood of sexual victimization. Implications for policy and future research are explored.     

Risky lifestyles and dating violence: A theoretical test of violent victimization

Research consistently indicates that there are numerous risk factors associated with dating violence. Few studies, however, developed theoretical explanations for the prevalence of dating victimization. In this study victimization theories were tested that suggested risk-taking behaviors (i.e., drug abuse, alcohol abuse, driving under the influence, and sexual promiscuity) mediated the effects of social ties and emotional states on the likelihood of violent victimization in adolescent dating relationships. This model was tested using a representative sample of public high school students in South Carolina. The results confirm theoretical predictions and indicate the effects of social ties on dating victimization occur indirectly, through their antecedent influence on risk taking. These findings, therefore, lend support for a lifestyles theory explanation of violent victimization in adolescent dating relationships. The implications of this research for theory and social policy are discussed.     

Introduction

Abstract

Dating violence is prevalent among Hispanic adolescents, yet few incidents are reported to the police. This research explored the severity of adolescent definitions as one potential reason for its under-reporting. It was expected that some adolescents might define only the most severe violence as “dating violence” and as a consequence these incidents are under-reported. Hispanic adolescent definitions of dating violence were examined along with factorsgeneral acceptance of dating violence, peer support of dating violence, acculturation, victimization experience, and sex-that might be related to the construction of these definitions. Acculturation, victimization experience, and sex were found to significantly contribute to the severity of adolescent definitions.     

Measuring sex differences in violence victimization and perpetration within date and same-sex peer relationships

This study examines sex differences in the patterns of repeated perpetration and victimization of physical violence and psychological aggression within dating relationships and same-sex peer relationships. Data were obtained from the Youth Violence Survey: Linkages among Different Forms of Violence, conducted in 2004, and administered to all public school students enrolled in grades 7, 9, 11 and 12 (N = 4,131) in a high-risk school district. Analyses of adolescents who dated in the past year (n = 2,888) show that girls are significantly more likely than boys to report physical violence and psychological aggression perpetration within dating relationships. However, boys are significantly more likely than girls to report physically injuring a date. Boys are also significantly more likely than girls to report physical violence victimization and perpetration within same-sex peer relationships. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Dating violence perpetration and/or victimization and associated sexual risk behaviors among a sample of inner-city African American and Hispanic adolescent females

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of physical and psychological dating violence victimization and perpetration reported by inner-city African American and Hispanic adolescent girls as well as associated risky sexual behaviors among this population. Participants in this study were 10th- and 11th-grade female students from seven inner-city Chicago public high schools. Participants were administered with the Safe Dates measures of physical violence victimization, physical violence perpetration, psychological abuse victimization, and psychological perpetration. Approximately half of the sample reported some psychological dating violence victimization and perpetration, and approximately one third reported some physical victimization and perpetration. Hispanic adolescents were significantly more likely to report psychological victimization, whereas African American adolescents were significantly more likely to report physical dating violence perpetration. Victimization was found to predict perpetration in this population, and adolescents who acknowledged being both victims and perpetrators of dating violence were more likely to report having had vaginal sex and a higher number of past-year sexual partners. Inner-city African American and Hispanic adolescent girls may be particularly vulnerable to dating violence victimization and perpetration, which may be due to a number of other social factors not explored within this study. Furthermore, African American adolescent girls continue to engage in behaviors that increase their risk for negative health outcomes, predominantly STIs, highlighting the need for effective interventions with this population.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Dating Aggression as a Function of Witnessing Only Same Sex Parents vs. Opposite Sex Parents vs. Both Parents as Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

The present study examined the association between witnessing interparental violence as a child, and the risk for perpetrating and being the victim of dating aggression as an adult, in an undergraduate sample. Specifically, this study tested a modeling hypothesis whereby witnessing a same sex parent vs. an opposite sex parent exclusively in the aggressor role would be more highly associated with risk for perpetrating dating aggression. Similarly, observing a same sex parent vs. an opposite sex parent as exclusively a victim of marital aggression would be associated with risk for being a victim of dating aggression. A same sex modeling effect was found for perpetration of dating aggression. Respondents who witnessed only their same sex parent perpetrate physical marital aggression were at increased risk for perpetrating physical dating aggression, whereas respondents who witnessed only their opposite sex parent perpetrate were not. A same sex modeling effect, however, was not found for being a victim of dating aggression. Rather, risk for victimization by dating aggression was associated only with witnessing bidirectional marital violence. Implications of these results, limitations of the present study, and ideas for future research are discussed.     

Exploring gender differences in dating violence/harassment prevention programming in middle schools: results from a randomized experiment

In this study, we randomly assigned 123 sixth and seventh grade classrooms from seven middle schools in the greater Cleveland area to one of two five-session curricula addressing gender violence/sexual harassment (GV/SH) or to a no-treatment control group. A baseline survey and two follow-up surveys were administered immediately after the treatment (Wave 2) and about six months post-treatment (Wave 3). In an earlier paper, we demonstrated the effectiveness of two approaches to youth GV/SH prevention programming (a fact-based, law and justice curriculum and an interaction-based curriculum). In this paper, we explored whether these largely positive findings remain for both girls and boys, including whether girls experience higher levels of GV/SH than boys. Most of our statistical models proved to be non-statistically significant. However, in 2 of our 48 victimization/perpetration (any violence, sexual violence and non-sexual violence) models (across two post-intervention follow-up points), we observed that the interventions reduced peer (male or female, non-dating partner) sexual violence victimization and reduced peer perpetration, but another outcome model indicated that the interventions increased dating perpetration. These mixed findings will need to be explored further in future research. Regarding our primary research question, we observed no statistically significant differences for the treatment multiplied by gender interaction terms for any of the perpetration or victimization outcome models, suggesting that the treatment had similar effects on girls and boys. However, we did observe that boys are more involved in violence than girls: both as victims and perpetrators. Boys experienced significantly more of three types of victimization from peers and dating partners compared to what girls experienced at the hands of their peers and dating partners. As perpetrators, boys committed more sexual victimization against peers (immediately post-intervention only) and more sexual victimization against dating partners than girls. The implications of these results are discussed.     

‘May Piece Be with You’: A Typological Examination of the Fear and Victimization Hypothesis of Adolescent Weapon Carrying

The causes and correlates of adolescent weapon carrying have received considerable scholarly attention. One common explanation of adolescent weapon carrying, the “fear and victimization hypothesis,” identifies the fear of victimization as a motivating force behind this behavior. Empirical studies of this explanation, however, have produced mixed results. One potential source of this ambiguity is the myriad data and measurement issues that have arisen in prior studies of the topic. The current study addresses many of these limitations through the use of panel data from over 1,100 youth across the United States. Through a typological approach, results support a multiple pathways framework for explaining adolescent weapon carrying, as the perceived risk of victimization is positively associated with weapon carrying for those youth who report both victimization and offending experiences. For those youth who are “pure offenders,” fear of victimization is inversely related to weapon carrying, while the perceived risk of victimization is unrelated to carrying weapons. Consistent with prior literature, results indicate that gang members report a disproportionately high level of weapon carrying.     

A multivariate investigation of dating aggression

This study investigated the following variables for their unique and combined contributions to dating aggression: exposure to aggression in the family of origin (witnessing interparental aggression or being the victim of aggressive parenting); attitudes justifying dating aggression (when humiliated or in selfdefense); child-to-parent aggression; child sexual abuse; violent sexual victimization; alcohol use; and socioeconomic status. One hundred and eleven male and 179 female undergraduates reported on their own aggressive behaviors directed toward dating partners. Together, the predictor variables accounted for 41% of the variance in male-to-female aggression but only 16% of the female-to-male aggression. Humiliation, as a justification for dating aggression, contributes to the prediction of both males' and females' dating aggression, while self-defense, although a highly endorsed condition for justifying dating aggression, does not predict actual aggressive behavior. Exposure to interparental aggression plus the product between exposure and humiliation contribute to the prediction of males' dating aggression but exposure does not play a role in females' dating aggression. Violent sexual victimization contributes unique variance to both males' and females' dating aggression. The present data highlight the importance of examining specific circumstances under which males and females justify dating aggression and how such attitudes condoning aggression affect actual behaviors.     

Assessing the Overlap in Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization among South Korean College Students: The Influence of Social Learning and Self-Control

Research has recently begun to identify an overlap of involvement in offending and victimization and a shared commonality of risk factors for both outcomes. Despite this growing body of evidence, this research has yet to have been extended to dating violence in general and in cross cultural samples specifically. Recognizing these gaps in the literature, the current study examines the correlation between psychological and physical dating violence perpetration and victimization among a large sample of South Korean college students. Results from a series of bivariate probit models suggest that there is a strong degree of overlap between dating violence perpetration and victimization and that social learning theory and self-control theory cannot explain away the overlap. Study limitations and implications are also discussed.     

A Multi-Level Approach to Investigating Neighborhood Effects on Physical Aggression among Urban Chicago Youth

The current study evaluates neighborhood effects, individual-level effects, and demographic characteristics that influence physically aggressive behavior among urban youth. Using data derived from 5,812 adolescents from Project Northland Chicago (PNC) and Heirarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) techniques, the results suggested that neighborhood problems significantly predicted physical aggression, before and after adjustment for individual-level risk factors (alcohol use, peer alcohol use, lack of adult supervision, and depression) and demographics. After accounting for baseline physical aggression, however, neighborhood problems were no longer a significant predictor of physical aggression. Implications for intervention at both the neighborhood and individual-level and study limitations are also discussed.     

THE LINK BETWEEN OFFENDING AND VICTIMIZATION AMONG ADOLESCENTS*

Prior research on victimization in the United States has generally neglected two key areas—victimization among juveniles and young adults and the connection between offending and victimization. The research presented here fuses these two concerns by examining the effect of delinquent lifestyles on the criminal victimization of teenagers and young adults. An examination of longitudinal data from the first five waves of the National Youth Survey suggests that adolescent involvement in delinquent lifestyles strongly increases the risk of both personal and property victimization. Further, the analysis reveals that a significant proportion of the risk of victimization incurred by different demographic subgroups—especially males—results from greater involvement in lifestyles characterized by delinquency. The authors conclude that victimization patterns among youths cannot be understood apart from criminal and deviant activities.     

Onset of conduct disorder, use of delinquent subsistence strategies, and street victimization among homeless and runaway adolescents in the Midwest

This study examines the effects of childhood-onset conduct disorder on later antisocial behavior and street victimization among a group of homeless and runaway adolescents. Four hundred twenty-eight homeless and runaway youth were interviewed directly on the streets and in shelters from four Midwestern states. Key findings include the following. First, compared with those who exhibit adolescent-onset conduct disorder, youth with childhood onset are more likely to engage in a series of antisocial behaviors such as use of sexual and nonsexual survival strategies. Second, youth with childhood-onset conduct disorder are more likely to experience violent victimization; this association, however, is mostly through an intervening process such as engagement in deviant survival strategies.     

Associations of dating violence victimization with lifetime participation, co-occurrence, and early initiation of risk behaviors among U.S. high school students

This study examined the association of victimization in a physically violent dating relationship with risk behaviors, age of risk behavior initiation, and co-occurrence of risk behaviors among students in grades 9 through 12 in the United States. Data were from the 2003 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Nearly 9% of students reported experiencing dating violence victimization. Dating violence victimization was associated with alcohol use, marijuana use, and having ever had sexual intercourse among female students and having ever had sexual intercourse among male students. Dating violence victimization also was associated with early initiation of alcohol use among female students. The odds of dating violence victimization increased as the number of risk behaviors increased and as the number of lifetime sexual partners increased. These risk behavior patterns should serve as warning signs of elevated risk for dating violence victimization and may be helpful in identifying adolescents who could benefit from targeted, preventive interventions.     

Youth crime victimization and religion: observations from Finland and Switzerland

European nations are undergoing increasing cultural and religious pluralization. Yet, we know little about how crime victimization relates to religion. Different theories suggest that religion might protect from or, on the contrary, be a risk factor for victimization. Drawing on a youth survey (ISRD–3), we examine Finland and Switzerland, two nations with different histories with respect to religious pluralism. We did not observe associations suggesting that membership in minority religions would protect from victimization. The risk of hate crime victimization was elevated among Finnish Muslim youths, while in Switzerland, there appears to be a more general association between ‘other’ religious identification and victimization risk. We conclude by discussing avenues for future research.