Northern European Adolescent Attitudes Toward Dating Violence

Abstract

A focus group methodology was used to examine attitudes toward dating violence among 86 adolescents (aged 12-17) from four northern European countries (England, Sweden, Germany, and Belgium). Four superordinate themes were identified from thematic analyses: gender identities, television as the educator, perceived acceptability of dating violence, and the decision to seek help/tell someone. Although violence in relationships was generally not condoned, when violence was used by females, was unintended (despite its consequences), or was in retaliation for infidelity, violence was perceived as acceptable. Adolescents indicated that their views were stereotypical and based solely on stereotypical television portrayals of violence in relationships. Stereotypical beliefs and portrayals generate barriers for victimized males to seek help because of fear of embarrassment.

Do context and emotional reaction to physical dating violence interact to increase the likelihood of disclosure in 13 year-old British adolescents?

“…Moreover, these data also suggest that interventions may need to include an examination of 'horseplay' as a precursor to less playful aggression in relationships. The data presented here and previously by Bowen et al (2013), support the game context as minimising perceptions of violence severity,…”

“…There is further evidence which suggests that context may also be linked to help-seeking. In a recent qualitative study of Northern European adolescent attitudes towards dating violence, Bowen et al (2013) found that help-seeking is likely to be gendered, and also influenced by perceptions of the acceptability of the violence used. This, in turn, was a function of the perceived severity and emotional significance of the violence, part of which related to the context within which the violence occurred.…”

“…It was found that if someone had witnessed the violence, or the victim had assigned emotional significance to the experience, they were more likely to seek help. Consequently, drawing on the findings of Bowen et al (2013), it is possible that the originating context of the violent episode determines to some extent the emotional significance placed on the experience, which in turn will influence an individual's appraisal of the severity of an incident which may lead to disclosure and/or help-seeking. Therefore, it might be expected that both context and emotional response interact to predict disclosure of the experience and/or use of violence.…”

Actitud sexista y trascendente durante el noviazgo entre universitarios latinoamericanos.

“…En cuanto a la edad, hallamos que, a mayor edad, más actitudes y conductas sexistas. Teniendo en mente que la población del estudio es de un nivel educativo superior, de los resultados se infiere que la cultura incide, en este contexto, en un concepto de superioridad del varón frente a la mujer, de lo que se deriva que el varón asume un rol de dominancia en la relación (Bowen et al, 2013;García-Cueto et al, 2015;López-Cepero Borrego et al, 2015;Ulloa et al, 2008).…”

“…La visión tradicional de los roles de género lleva a propiciar factores de riesgo en las relaciones afectivas de noviazgo, llegando a ser estas insatisfactorias cuando se desafían los roles (Ulloa, Jaycox, Skinner, y Osburn, 2008), siendo una parte de la pareja víctima. De este modo, los factores protectores de especificidad cultural se pueden perder con la aculturación, lo que conduciría a un aumento de satisfacción en las relaciones afectivas de noviazgo (Bowen et al, 2013).…”