Accounts of aggression and violence among young people abound in academic journals, novels, school curricula, web-based media, and print and televised news reports. The complex representations of youth as both victims and perpetrators of abuse have birthed a complementary lexicon of terminologies that describe the myriad ways in which hostilities manifest among this population. Two such terms are dating and intimate partner violence, of which girls and women between the ages of 16 and 24 are the most vulnerable, experiencing the highest per capita rates of non-fatal intimate partner violence.[1]
During the period of adolescence, young people are involved in the development of an identity, separation and independence from family, and fitting into a peer group. As such, they can be particularly vulnerable to a partner who dictates lifestyle choices and/or controls access to their communities. The isolation and fear that comprises many dating violence situations can steer a victim towards internalizing messages about whom they should aspire to be and how they should act, and can lead to victims’ deemphasizing their individual judgment, values and beliefs and prioritizing the negativity constructed as truth by their abusers.
Thus, dating violence among teens is particularly destructive and its effects long-lasting, as victims are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, including substance abuse, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy, and suicidal behavior.[2] These risk factors are exacerbated by the realities that accompany many attempts teens may make to get help. They may not have money, access to transportation, or safe places to go, and/or have concerns about a lack of confidentiality if they do report the abuse. In some states, teens may apply for restraining or protective orders and get domestic violence services without the help of a parent or guardian, but in some they may not.[3] In those states where they cannot get orders of protection, teens then have to weigh the potential abuse from a parent/guardian from whom they have kept their relationship a secret against the actual abuse from their partner – a seemingly no-win situation. As such, of the one in three teens who will experience abuse in a dating relationship, two-thirds will never report it to anyone.[4]
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-1999.” October 2001.
[2] Jay G. Silverman, Ph.D. et al., “Dating Violence against Adolescent Girls and Associated Substance Use, Unhealthy Weight Control, Sexual Risk Behavior, Pregnancy and Suicidality.” Journal of the American Medical Association. October 2001. Timothy A Roberts, MD, LCDR and Jonathan Klein, MD, MPH, “Intimate Partner Abuse and High Risk Behavior in Adolescents.” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. April 2003.
[3] http://www.breakthecycle.org/resources-state-law-report-cards-2009.html – State Law Report Cards