U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
 The Real World of Dating Violence in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Portrait

September 1, 2014
Review the YouTube Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy
See reuse policy
Series
                  Research for the Real World
In this seminar, Dr. Peggy Giordano of Bowling Green State University presents preliminary findings from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), a thirteen-year longitudinal study examining the lives of young people transitioning into adulthood. In this study, Dr. Giordano led a team of researchers who performed five waves of structured in-home surveys paired with in-depth qualitative interviews with a subset of respondents who had experienced violence within the context of their dating relationships. The team found that there are numerous processes within early relationships that increase the risk of teen dating violence occurring, and a window on change — that is, factors associated with 'desistance' from this destructive pattern of behavior. Further, they found that when compared to adults, teens typically exhibit fewer gender-related differences in their patterns of violence; and the issues that trigger teen violence revolve more around anger than around control.
  
  
          Transcript
Well, we’ve recently completed a study of adolescent and young adult romantic relationships. In the last wave of interviews that we conducted, we focused our central attention on teen dating violence and intimate partner violence. It’s a study that surveys 1,200 youth, and we have followed them from the time that they are 13, up until — average age — in the late twenties now.

There is that strong belief that once an abuser, always an abuser or that there’s a stable trait that may predispose people to aggression. While that certainly has validity to it as a theme, we see a lot of variability within this sample. People actually do stop hitting their partners.

We noticed, kind of, a straightforward way to desist is simply to recognize that you need to change partners and to get a new partner, but almost as interesting, if not more interesting, are those individuals who actually did adjust their behavior and consciously set about to change these patterns.

One of the themes that’s popular in various prevention and intervention efforts is this idea of control, but what I think has been lost is that there is an actual connection between control attempts and particular contested domains within the relationship.

So, we have said yes, control is important, but what is it they’re trying to control? Anger is actually a part of the experience, but why are they angry?

We found that three areas are of central concern for a lot of these young people — financial matters, somewhat surprisingly, because we know that these are not all cohabiting or marriage relationships

A second area that we looked at that came out as a recurring theme was to do with peer/partner balance. How much time should I be spending with my peers? How much with my partner?

Finally, and probably most importantly, we found that issues of infidelity or fidelity concerns were extremely important as a contested domain that often linked to these more serious physical conflicts. I think it’s important not to think of these as mutually exclusive because sometimes people actually talked about the whole package of these concerns.

Our view is that we need to develop a more localized view of anger, not as something that’s this immutable trait of the individual that they carry forward with them at all times, it’s something that emerges, based on these disagreements, but also based on the individual’s attempt to try to control you

That more localized approach, I think, is important, because it does provide hope for change.

First, it’s important to say that clearly, as shown in our data and many other data sets, women experience the greatest amounts of fear, intimidation, and even injury from different acts of intimate partner violence.

That said, we find very high rates of female perpetration, according to their own self reports and according to young men’s reports about what their partner does in that relationship.

Women are trying to control partners with respect to certain things that are important to them that are going on in their relationships. That’s one of the themes that we usually think about — male control — when we think about this field, but actually, in the relationship’s characterized by violence, there are also high levels of female control

We’re just trying to add a layer of complexity there to say that there are many different scenarios that produce anger, control attempts, and violence, of which that is only one.

I think we’re almost — it’s fair to say — in a kind of second generation of understandings about this problem. When you look at how people talk about intimate partner violence, there are very few people who would say oh, yeah, it’s okay to hit your partner or that’s good for her, to hit her. No one really believes that anymore. It’s something that, at some broad societal level, has been discredited and it’s not a source of status enhancement, but yet, we still have this problem.

There are certain kinds of things where people suspend the normal “what I know to be wrong” and they actually engage in behavior that they know is not correct.

It might be that the young woman has seen a text message from someone and they really are legitimately angry. It’s at that point that you have to make decisions to avoid escalating the conflict or feeling humiliated because you’ve been found out. A lot of people express that, that they do feel putdown or humiliated at that particular point, when they’re caught in a lie, so those are the real vulnerability points within relationships.

So, we ought to talk about these vulnerability points, without saying that the victim precipitated this action or somehow was involved in its unfolding within the relationship. It’s a very delicate balance, but I think it’s well worth taking because we’ve made, sort of, the big strides now, and now we can begin to really hone in on these reluctant — oh, I know it’s wrong, but — kind of, beliefs that may still foster this pattern of behavior.

[End of video clip]
    
  
Disclaimer:
              Opinions or points of view expressed in these recordings represent those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Any commercial products and manufacturers discussed in these recordings are presented for informational purposes only and do not constitute product approval or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Justice.
  
Date Published: September 1, 2014
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              NIJ Journal
    
      
            
            
            
      Podcasts
    
      
            
            
            
      Publications Listing
    
      
            
            
            
      Multimedia Listing
    
      
            
            
            
      Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
    
      
            
            
            
      Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
    
      
            
            
            
      Software & Databases
    
      
            
            
            
      Datasets
    
      
            
            
            
      PatentsAlternatives to Traditional School Discipline - Breakout Session, NIJ Virtual Conference on School Safety
                  CSSI Comprehensive School Safety Projects - Breakout Session, NIJ Virtual Conference on School Safety
                  School Safety Considerations for Distinct Student Populations - Breakout Session, NIJ Virtual Conference on School Safety
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov