Research Proposal on "Teen Dating Violence"

Research Proposal 13 pages (3837 words) Sources: 6 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Teen dating violence is an unfortunate reality for many teenagers across the United States. It can include a number of different types of abuses that have serious ramifications on the physical and mental health of the victims of such abuse. The goal of this research is to find a measurable correlation between exposure to abuse within romantic teen relationships as a way to better understand the ramifications of this abuse. By using regression models to show such a correlation compared to a control group of teens who have not been exposed to such violence will hopefully show the connection. With this knowledge, policy makers can then create the best strategies for prevention and intervention as to save these teens from suffering aspects of depression and/or anxiety unnecessarily as caused by their exposure to violence within their romantic relationships.

Introduction

The teen population of America's youth is incredibly vulnerable to so many things, from peer pressure to teen dating violence. It is an unfortunate reality that many of today's teen couples engage in some sort of violence towards their romantic partner, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. The numbers of teens reportedly experiencing such violence tied to their dating relationships is alarming. What is even more alarming are the long-term after-effects of the violence experienced by teens within the context of their relationships. Among physical dangers, such violence has been thought to correlate with later emotional instability with the onset of depression, anxiety, and other motives for negative behavior after being a victim of abuse within a relationship. It is the goal of this current research of determine exactly how likely rates of depression and anxiety correlate with the violence seen in teen dating. It is the constructed hypothesis of this research that teens that have experienced abuse from both physical violence and emotional abuse within the context of dating relationships will have higher levels of depression and/or anxiety. Thus, the presence of abuse is teen relationships facilitates measurable levels of depression and/or anxiety within teens. In opposition to our constructed hypothesis is our null hypothesis, which states that abuse within teen relationships has no real measurable affect on facilitating depression and/or anxiety, and that such states are actually facilitated through another means.

Literature Review

To truly understand the dynamics of teen dating violence, we must first look at the practice of teen dating itself to clearly define the contexts in which the acts of violence take place. The concept of dating is a relatively new phenomenon coming out of Twentieth Century social customs (Jackson et al. 1998). Previous to the 1920s, dating and courtship was much different than how it is viewed today. Typically, short periods of courtship were immediately followed by marriage. However, around the middle of the Twentieth Century, dating moved away from being a practice of marriage courtship, and the rules of formal dating changed dramatically. From the middle of the Twentieth Century onwards, dating became a social phenomenon that allowed teens to enjoy the company of multiple partners over a period of time, without the necessity of ending in a marriage. Today, dating is considered as a mere relationship between two individuals who share a mutual like or love for one another. Yet, as dating has become more widespread and loosely confined, there have been problems surfacing, including that of dating violence. Based on the social practice of dating being so relatively young, the research of dating violence has been slow to catch on within the world of modern social science; in fact, "Not until the late 1970s and early 1980s would dating violence be somewhat recognized as a social phenomenon and as a significant area or problem for social research," (Jackson et al. 1998:84). This leads to serious gaps in research and a lack of a thorough understanding of teen dating violence along with all of its ramifications, both physical and emotional.

In modern day research, the numbers of teens who have experienced some sort of teen dating violence or another is astounding. According to prior research, "According to one investigation, 29% of victims experienced their first incident of dating violence between the ages of 12 and 13 and 40% were first victimized between the ages of 14 and 15," (Holt & Espelage 2005:311). Those are alarming numbers within a small sample group. National numbers tend to be much smaller, but still high enough to produce significant alarm within the social science community. These rates, although high, are not increasing, and "National trends in the prevalence estimates of physical dating violence victimization over the previous 12-month period among high school youth indicates its relative stability; prevalence rates in 2005, 2003 and 1999 were 9.2%, 8.9%, and 9.1%, respectively," (Howard et al. 2007 "Psychological factors associated with reports of physical dating violence among U.S. adolescents females":311). So, at the turn of the century, the rates have remained relatively stable, yet still alarmingly high. Yet predicting and preventing the onset of teen violence has become quite a challenge for many researchers and policy makers. As more and more attempt to combat these numbers, many are finding that there are more teens that have experience teen dating violence, but yet have refused to surface. Others are finding it even harder to combat based on the practice being found across numerous demographics and populations with little significant patterns. In a 2007 study (Howard et al. 2007:325), "no systematic pattern emerged by grade level for physical dating violence." Thus the major strategy for combating teen dating violence has become one of early prevention, which is the only real way researchers have found to truly permeate into so many demographics with seemingly very little set patterns involved in the practicing of teen dating violence.

The practice of teen dating violence can incorporate several forms of abuse directed towards one or both partners within the context of a teen relationship. First and foremost, there are physical abuses, which prove to have the most danger in terms of both immediate and long-term ramifications upon the victim of the abuse. Research has defined the acts included within physical abuse "to include physically violent acts such as slapping or punching a partner," (Holt & Espelage 2005:321). These can be isolated acts of aggression, or more continual abuses similar to those seen in long-term domestic abuse situations between married or committed couples. The physical acts of abuse can lead to serious physical health risks, along with deeper rooted emotional instabilities tied to the initial physical act. Another form of abuse seen within the context of teen dating is sexual abuse. Within many teen relationships there is some form of forced sexual contact, where "Some may fail to resist sexual advances for fear of being physically or emotionally battered, whereas others may go along for the sake of popularity" (Jackson & Oates 1998:93). This unwanted sexual activity is then considered abuse based on its forced nature. In many cases, this is not pure physical force, but repeated psychological pressure from one partner to engage within sexual intercourse. There is another type of sexual abuse which is commonly seen within teen populations, incidents of what is known as date rape. Date rape can be defined as rape that is committed after one member of the relationship has been drugged by the other, or is too intoxicated to ward off unwanted sexual advances (Jackson & Oates 1998). Such abuses tend to make up the physical side of abuse seen within the context of teen dating violence.

Yet, there is a completely different side to teen dating violence which is enacted with no physical contact or danger. Emotional and psychological abuse can be a major force within teen dating violence that can have serious ramifications on the later mental health of teen victims. According to research, "Emotional/psychological abuse was defined to include behaviors such as manipulation and verbal battering," (Holt & Espelage 2005:321). This form of mental abuse experienced within teen relationships can later lead to more aggressive abuse in a physical form. It can also have serious ramifications on the mental well being of both the victim and the victimizer. Outside of physical abuse, mental abuse within teen relationships is one of the most common forms of abuse seen in the modern context. It can vary in terms of severity as well as in intention. Many victimizers have no idea that they are unintentionally mentally battering their partner, yet many others do so with full conscious intent as a way to mentally subdue or subjugate their partner into an inferior position. In many cases, emotional and physical abuses go hand in hand, and are experienced within the context of the same relationship. Another form of abuse involves abuses money or material possessions. This practice is commonly known within the context of research as economic exploitation. Economic exploitation includes "stealing, damaging, or destroying a partner's money or property," (Jackson et al.1998:92). In many cases, this is done to subjugate one of the partners, but it can also serve as a… READ MORE

How to Reference "Teen Dating Violence" Research Proposal in a Bibliography

Related Research Proposals:

Teen Dating Violence Research Paper

Teen dating violence runs cuts across race, gender, and socioeconomic lines. Both males and females are victims, but boys and girls are abusive in different ways (National Teen Dating Violence… read more

Research Paper 10 pages (3685 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Sexuality / Gender

---

Teen Violence Abuse Versus Non-Abusive Situations Research Paper

Teen Abuse

Recognizing the Signs of Abusive Teenage Relationships

For both the perpetrator and the victim, tendencies toward involvement in an abusive relationship may reveal themselves even before full adulthood.… read more

Research Paper 6 pages (1717 words) Sources: 12 Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

Dating Culture in 1950 Research Paper

Dating Culture in the 1950s

While dating has been part of American popular culture for several generations, the dating culture has changed from one generation to another. Prior to the… read more

Research Paper 7 pages (2386 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Family / Dating / Marriage

---

Violence in Media the Public Essay

Restrictions and Labeling media content

The common response by governments to a purported threat is to create regulatory organizations. In this case they are charged with protecting minors from media… read more

Essay 7 pages (2822 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

Teen Pregnancy in Rural U.S Essay

Vermilion Parish Louisiana and Teen Pregnancy Factors

The statistics coming out of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, concerning teens living in the Parish who are sexually active and the resultant pregnancy rates… read more

Essay 2 pages (665 words) Sources: 1 Style: APA Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>