Dating Violence

Since the late 1960s, violence in intimate relationships has been drawing more attention as an important social problem. Recently, violence has attracted attention as a source of growing concern among married, nonmarried, dating, and cohabiting couples. Early research indicates that 25 percent of nonmarried couples have experienced violence in their relationship. More recent research suggests that as many as 74 percent of men and women in relationships fall victim to their dating partners.

Dating is a difficult concept to define. The term dating can refer to a wide range of relationships between men and women. It includes boys’ and girls’ “hanging out,” “seeing each other,” or “hooking up with one another” within the context of a large, mixed-gender group, as well as monogamous committed sexual [Page 375]relationships. A study conducted with suburban high school students indicated that students started dating at about 12 years old. Nearly half of high school students reported being involved with a partner at the time of data collection. In another study conducted at inner-city middle schools, more than two-thirds of the students said that they were “going out” with someone at the time of the study. These students also reported having boyfriends and girlfriends as early as 9 years old. Overall, 25 to 33 percent of the surveyed students reported wanting to get married with their current dating partner.

Risk factors linked with dating violence include poor communication, problem-solving, and assertiveness skills. Violent partners, versus nonviolent couples, exhibit lower levels of verbal skills overall.

Defining dating violence is a difficult task often associated with heated debates. There are numerous conceptualizations of violence that have been used in literature. Therefore, the prevalence rate for dating aggression is highly variable since it depends on how researchers define violence.