This study embeds dating violence in context. It examines how 130 young adult female survivors of dating violence involved members of their social network in the experience of abuse, how network members responded to them, survivors' satisfaction with these responses and the reasons some network members were not informed. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a questionnaire. Results indicate that the responses of network members serve a supportive and a supervisory function; and these responses are interpreted within a feminist gender analysis framework Implications for prevention and education programs are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aizenman, M.
and Kelley, G. (1988) `The Incidence of Violence and Acquaintance Rape in Dating Relationships among College Men and Women', Journal of College Student Development29: 305-311.
2.
`Bograd, M.
(1988) `Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse: An Introduction', in K. Yllo and M. Bograd (eds) Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse, pp. 11-26. Newbury, CA: Sage.
3.
Burcky, W.
, Reuterman, N. and Kopsky, S. (1988) `Dating Violence among High School Students', The School Counselor35: 353-358.
4.
Carlson, B.
(1987) `Dating Violence: A Research Review and Comparison with Spouse Abuse', Social Casework (Jan): 16-23.
5.
Casenave, N.A.
and Straus, M.A. (1979) `Race, Class, Network Embeddedness and Family Violence: A Search for Potent Support Systems', Journal of Comparative Family Studies10: 281-300.
6.
Cosgrove, L.
and McHugh, M. (1989) `Victim Blame: A Feminist Critique of the Research', paper presented at the Association of Women in Psychology Annual Meeting, Providence, RI.
7.
Dobash, R.E.
and Dobash, R.P. (1983) Violence Against Wives: A Case Against Patriarchy. New York: The Free Press.
8.
Fine, M.
and Gordon, S. (1989) `Feminist Transformations Of/Despite Psychology', in M. Crawford and R. Unger (eds) Gender and Thought: Psychological Perspectives, pp. 146-174. New York: Springer.
9.
Firestein, B.
(1987) `The Relationship of Abuse and Social Support to the Psychological Health of College Women in Dating Relationships', paper presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, New York.
10.
Gamache, D.
(1991) `Domination and Control: The Social Context of Dating Violence', in B. Levy (ed.) Dating Violence: Young Women in Danger, pp. 69-83. Seattle, WA: The Seal Press.
11.
Grotevant, H.
and Cooper, C.R. (1986) `Individuation in Family Relationships: A Perspective on Individual Differences in the Development of Identity and Role-taking Skill in Adolescence', Human Development29: 82-100.
12.
Guilford, T.P.
(1965) Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
13.
Hays, W.L.
(1981) Statistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
14.
Hollway, W.
(1989) Subjectivity and Method in Psychology. London: Sage.
15.
Israel, B.
and Antonucci, T. (1987) `Social Network Characteristics and Psychological Well-being: A Replication and Extension', Health Education Quarterly14: 461-481.
16.
Koss, M.
and Burkhart, B. (1989) `A Conceptual Analysis of Rape Victimization', Psychology of Women Quarterly13: 27-40.
17.
Lane, K.A.
and Gwartney-Gibbs, P.A. (1985) `Violence in the Context of Dating and Sex', Journal of Family Issues6(1):45-59.
18.
Lin, N.
, Woelfel, M. and Light, S. (1987) `The Buffering of Social Support Subsequent to an Important Life Event', Journal of Health and Social Behavior26: 247-263.
19.
Makepeace, J.
(1981) `Courting Violence Among College Students', Family Relations30: 97-102.
20.
Makepeace, J.
(1986) `Gender Differences in Courtship Violence Victimization', Family Relations35: 383-388.
21.
Mathews, W.
(1984) `Violence in College Couples', College Student Journal18: 150-158.
22.
Miller, D.T.
and Porter, C.A. (1983) `Self-blame in Victims of Violence', Journal of Social Issues39(2): 139-152.
23.
Pagelow, M.D.
(1981) Women-battering: Victims and Their Experience. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
24.
Pirog-Good, M.A.
and Stets, J.A. (1989) `The Help-seeking Behavior of Physically and Sexually Abused College Students', in M.A. Pirog-Good and J.E. Stets (eds) Violence in Dating Relationships: Emerging Social Issues, pp. 108-125. New York: Praeger.
25.
Risman, B.
and Schwartz, P. (1989) `Being Gendered: A Microstructural View of Intimate Relationships', in B. Risman and P. Schwartz (eds) Gender in Intimate Relationships, pp. 1-9. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
26.
Roscoe, B.
and Callahan, J. (1985) `Self-report on Violence in Families and Dating Relationships', Adolescence20(79): 545-553.
27.
Sarason, I.
, Levine, H., Basham, R. and Sarason, B. (1983) `Assessing Social Support: The Social Support Questionnaire', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology44: 127-139.
28.
Sarason, I.
, Sarason, B., Shearin, E. and Pierce, G. (1987) `A Brief Measure of Social Support: Practical and Theoretical Implications', Journal of Social and Personal Relationships4: 497-510.
29.
Steinglass, P.
(1978) `The Conceptualization of Marriage from a Systems Theory Perspective', in T. Paolino and B. McCrady (eds) Marriage and Marital Therapy, pp. 298-365. New York: Brunner-Mazel.
30.
Strauss, A.
(1987) Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. New York: Cambridge University Press.
31.
Sugarman, D.B.
and Hotaling, G.T. (1989) `Dating Violence: Prevalence, Context, and Risk Markers', in M.A. Pirog-Good and J.E. Stets (eds) Violence in Dating Relationships: Emerging Social Issues, pp. 3-32. New York: Praeger.
32.
Walker, L.
(1984) The Battered Woman Syndrome. New York: Harper Colophon Books.
33.
Walker, L.
(1989) `Psychology and Violence Against Women', American Psychologist44: 695-702.
34.
White, K.
, Speisman, J. and Costos, D. (1983) `Young Adults and Their Parents: Individuation to Mutuality', New Directions for Child Development22: 61-76.
35.
Wyatt, G.
, Notgrass, C. and Newcomb, M. (1990) `Internal and External Mediators of Women's Rape Experiences', Psychology of Women Quarterly14: 153-176.
