The Psychology of Violence in Adolescent Romantic Relationships

207 Pages·2015·1.67 MB·English

by  Erica Bowen

The Psychology of Violence in Adolescent
Romantic Relationships
Also by Erica Bowen
EVALUATING CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS ( co- editor)
THE REHABILITATION OF P ARTNER- VIOLENT MEN
The Psychology of Violence
in Adolescent Romantic
Relationships
Erica Bowen and Kate Walker
Coventry University, UK
© Erica Bowen and Kate Walker 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-32139-8
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First published 2015 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-45800-4 ISBN 978-1-137-32140-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137321404
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bowen, Erica, 1976–
The psychology of violence in adolescent romantic relationships / Erica
Bowen and Kate Walker.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-349-45800-4 (alk.paper)
1. Dating violence—Psychological aspects. 2. Intimate partner violence—
Psychological aspects. 3. Teenagers—Sexual behavior. 4. Teenage girls—
Violence against. I. Walker, Kate, 1969– II. Title.
HQ801.83.B69 2015
303.60835’2—dc23 2014049544
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
We dedicate this book to our family and friends
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables xi
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiv
1 Contextualising Violence and Abuse in Adolescent
Romantic Relationships 1
Introduction 1
What is adolescence? 2
Adolescent romantic relationships 3
What happens in adolescent romantic relationships? 4
The nature of adolescent dating violence (ADV) 5
Academic definitions 5
Definitions in practice 5
Official definitions 6
What is adolescent dating violence? 7
Physical abuse 7
Psychological/emotional or verbal abuse 9
Sexual violence/abuse 9
Controlling behaviours 10
Prevalence of ADV 11
Physical violence 11
Psychological/emotional violence 12
Sexual violence/abuse and coercion 12
Same- sex relationships 13
Who uses these behaviours? 15
Stability or change in ADV? 15
Why do young people use aggression in romantic
relationships? 16
Help-seeking behaviours 18
Summary and conclusions 20
2 The Impact of Adolescent Dating Violence 21
Introduction 21
Impact of ADV 22
Negative physical health consequences 22
vii
viii Contents
Mental health outcomes 41
Anxiety and depression 41
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 42
Disordered eating 43
Reported suicidal thoughts and attempts 44
ADV and increased participation in health risk behaviours 45
Longitudinal studies (smoking, alcohol and drug use) 46
Sexual risk 48
Subsequent victimisation 49
Summary and conclusions 50
3 Risk and Protective Factors for Adolescent
Dating Violence 52
Introduction 52
Risk, protective and promotive factors 53
Organising framework 53
Macrosystem 54
Exosystem 54
Microsystem 54
Ontogenetic system 55
The evidence base 55
General observations 56
Risk factors for ADV perpetration 65
Protective factors 68
Risk factors for ADV victimisation 69
Protective factors 71
Summary and conclusions 71
4 Issues in Adolescent Dating Violence Risk Assessment 73
Introduction 73
What do we mean by risk assessment? 74
Should we assess ADV risk in adolescents? 74
Considerations in the assessment of ADV risk 75
Approaches to risk assessment 78
First generation: clinical judgement 79
Second generation: actuarial assessments 79
Third generation: structured clinical
or professional judgement 80
Tools for assessing violence risk among adolescents 80
EARL- 20B/21G 81
Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth 81
The Spousal Assault Risk Assessment 83
Contents ix
How well can we assess risk of adolescent dating violence? 87
Summary and conclusions 94
5 What Works When Intervening in Adolescent
Relationship Violence? 96
Introduction 96
Background 97
Summary of the content delivery and success of interventions 98
Setting and target populations 98
Intervention theories and targets 98
Delivery of interventions 118
Intervention outcomes 119
Methodological issues 121
Summary and conclusions 122
6 A Framework for Intervention Development 123
The Intervention Mapping Model 123
IM Step 1: Needs assessment 124
Conducting a needs analysis 126
IM Step 2: Preparing matrices of change objectives 129
IM Step 3: Selecting behaviour-change techniques 136
IM Step 4: Producing programme components
and materials 137
IM Steps 5 & 6: Adoption and implementation
plan and evaluation plan 140
Summary and conclusions 141
7 A Framework for Evaluating Interventions for
Adolescent Dating Violence 143
Why evaluate? 143
What should be evaluated? 144
Which evaluation questions should be asked? 144
Assessing programme need 145
Assessing programme theory 146
Assessing programme process 147
Assessing programme outcomes 149
Summary and conclusions 156
8 Drawing It All Together: A Research
and Practice Agenda 157
Introduction 157
A research agenda 157
Issues of measurement 157
Issues of research methodology 160