Unique Outcomes in the Narratives of Young Adults Who Experienced Dating Violence as Adolescents

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Narrative therapy, an approach based on the reauthoring of life narratives, may be a useful psychotherapeutic strategy for youth who have experienced dating violence. OBJECTIVE: A cornerstone of narrative therapy is the concept of unique outcomes, which are moments that stand in contrast to a client’s otherwise problem-saturated narratives. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize unique outcomes embedded in narratives about adolescent dating violence. DESIGN: Text units representing unique outcomes were extracted from transcripts of interviews with 88 young adults who had experienced dating violence and were categorized using standard content analytic techniques. RESULTS: Six categories of unique outcome stories were identified: facing-facts stories, standing-up-for-myself stories, cutting-it-off stories, cutting-’em-loose stories, getting-back-on-track stories, and changing-it-up stories. CONCLUSION: This typology of unique outcomes can inform clinicians who work with clients who have a history of adolescent dating violence.

Keywords

dating violence teen dating violence adolescent dating violence unique outcomes

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brosi

M. W.

Rolling

E. S.

(2010). A narrative journey for intimate partner violence: From victim to survivor. American Journal of Family Therapy, 38, 237-250. doi:10.1080/01926180902961761

Bruner

(1986). Actual minds/possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Understanding teen dating violence fact sheet. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/teen-dating-violence-factsheet-a.pdf

Chiodo

Crooks

C. V.

Wolfe

D. A.

McIsaac

Hughes

Jaffe

P. G.

(2012). Longitudinal prediction and concurrent functioning of adolescent girls demonstrating various profiles of dating violence and victimization. Prevention Science, 13, 350-359. doi:10.1007/s11121-011-0236-3

Denborough

(2008). Collective narrative practice: Responding to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced trauma. Adelaide, South Australia, Australia: Dulwich Centre.

Denborough

(2014). Retelling the stories of our lives: Everyday narrative therapy to draw inspiration and transform experience. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Draucker

C. B.

(2003). Unique outcomes of women and men who were abused. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 39(1), 7-16. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6163.2003.tb00668.x

Draucker

C. B.

Martsolf

Stephenson

Cook

C. B.

Perkins

Heckman

Ferguson

C. P.

(2012). Types of aggressive relationships in adolescent dating violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 21, 516-539. doi:10.1080/10926771.2012.678467

Draucker

C. B.

Martsolf

Stephenson

Risko

Heckman

Sheehan

. . . Stephenson

(2010). Aggressive events in adolescent dating violence. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 31, 599-610. doi:10.3109/01612841003793056

10.

Exner-Cortens

Eckenrode

Rothman

(2013). Longitudinal associations between teen dating violence victimization and adverse health outcomes. Pediatrics, 131(1), 71-78. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-1029

11.

Foshee

V. A.

Bauman

K. E.

Ennett

S. T.

Linder

G. F.

Benefield

Suchindran

(2004). Assessing the long-term effects of the Safe Dates program and a booster in preventing and reducing adolescent dating violence victimization and perpetration. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 619-624. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448308/

12.

Foshee

V. A.

Bauman

K. E.

Ennett

S. T.

Suchindran

Benefield

Linder

G. F.

(2005). Assessing the effects of the dating violence prevention program “Safe Dates” using random coefficient regression modeling. Prevention Science, 6, 245-258. doi:10.1007/s11121-005-0007-0

13.

Freedman

Combs

(1996). Narrative therapy: The social construction of preferred realities. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

14.

Goffman

(1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of the mental patient and other inmates. New York, NY: Doubleday.

15.

Gonçalves

M. M.

Matos

Santos

(2009). Narrative therapy and the nature of “innovative moments” in the construction of change. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 22(1), 1-23. doi:10.1080/10720530802500748

16.

Haynie

D. L.

Farhat

Brooks-Russell

Wang

Barbieri

Iannotti

R. J.

(2013). Dating violence perpetration and victimization among US adolescents: Prevalence, patterns, and associations with health complaints and substance use. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, 194-201. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.02.008

17.

Howard

D. E.

Wang

M. Q.

Yan

(2007). Psychosocial factors associated with reports of physical dating violence among U.S. adolescent females. Adolescence, 42(166), 311-324.

18.

Kann

Chyen

Whittle

Taylor

Demissie

Brener

. . . Zaza

(2014). Youth risk behavior surveillance-United States, 2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance Summaries, 63(Suppl. 4), 1-168.

19.

Krippendorff

(2013). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

20.

Madigan

(2011). Narrative therapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

21.

Martsolf

D. S.

Draucker

C. B.

Stephenson

P. L.

Cook

C. B.

Heckman

T. A.

(2012). Patterns of dating violence across adolescence. Qualitative Health Research, 22, 1271-1283. doi:10.1177/1049732312449388

22.

McAdams

D. P.

McLean

K. C.

(2013). Narrative identity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 233-238. doi:10.1177/0963721413475622

23.

McLean

K. C.

Pasupathi

Pals

J. L.

(2007). Selves creating stories creating selves: A process model of self-development. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 262-278. doi:10.1177/1088868307301034

24.

Miles

M. B.

Huberman

A. M.

Saldaña

(2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

25.

Ozer

E. J.

Tschann

J. M.

Pasch

L. A.

Flores

(2004). Violence perpetration across peer and partner relationships: Co-occurrence and longitudinal patterns among adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 34(1), 64-71. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(03)00274-X

26.

Payne

(2006). Narrative therapy (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

27.

Sandelowski

(2000). Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing & Health, 23, 334-340.

28.

Smith

P. H.

White

J. W.

Holland

L. J.

(2003). A longitudinal perspective on dating violence among adolescent and college-age women. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1104-1109. doi:10.2105/ajph.93.7.1104

29.

Stover

C. S.

Meadows

A. L.

Kaufman

(2009). Interventions for intimate partner violence: Review and implications for evidence-based practice. Professional Psychology, 40(3), 223-233. doi:10.1037/a0012718

30.

Temple

J. R.

Freeman

D. H.

(2011). Dating violence and substance use among ethnically diverse adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 701-718. doi:10.1177/0886260510365858

31.

White

(2007). Maps of narrative practice. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

32.

Yan

F. A.

Howard

D. E.

Beck

K. H.

Shattuck

Hallmark-Kerr

(2010). Psychosocial correlates of physical dating violence victimization among Latino early adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 808-831. doi:10.1177/0886260509336958