Adolescent Dating Violence

For this paper, I am interested in the topic of adolescent dating violence and whether or not intervention practices are effective. While I am still focusing my efforts on this one question, over the duration of my research thus far, several more questions have popped up for me. I am interested in the current practices of secondary schools in addressing this issue of dating violence. However, I realize that just like colleges, high schools vary drastically in their education and policies surrounding these issues. As a student who is involved with sexual assault education and reform here at Georgetown, I wish I could do the same at the high school level. Looking back at my high school experience, I realize that even though I went to an amazing …show more content…
Attendance for minors in school is mandatory. Therefore, contact is often required between a survivor and their perpetrator. Additionally, schools have the ability to change and impact a perpetrator’s behavior. Between the education that schools provide and the oversight given to adolescents during the day, schools are in a position to recognize and change problematic behavior (Carlson, C.). As such, I think it is imperative when exploring this dialogue of adolescent dating violence and the impacts it has on family and the law to view a closer lens upon other systems, such as schools, which are more inclined to alter …show more content…
As such, I have accumulated a wide array of material for my research. Through further education, I have become more aware of why these issues happen, what their effects are, and what can be done. The effects of abuse on anyone, adolescent or not can be extremely detrimental. The effects of abuse on adolescents can be hard to determine because children have different experiences and can be for different durations. However, some conclusions can be drawn from the research we have. Physically abused children can turn aggressive or display antisocial behavior as a result. Furthermore, they are more likely to become offenders themselves in adolescents. Additionally, they often have a higher rate of delinquency (Barnett, Ola W., Cindy L. Miller-Perrin, and Robin D. Perrin). The reactions individuals experience as a result of abuse vary widely. Most adolescents react by informally seeking help, breakup with their partners or threatening to do so, some fight back, and many took no action whatsoever. Only a small percentage formally sought help. There are many reasons as to why a survivor may not want to reach out for help. However, I would like to continue my research to see how systems react to survivors and what best practices