Sierra Landry, 17 from Lancaster South Carolina started dating Tanner Crolley 18. Within a few months, she had isolated herself from her family, dropped out of high school and her parents started noticing small bruises and they kept getting bigger. Sierra tried to get away from this abusive relationship, but her controlling boyfriend continued harassing and stalking her. On December 30, she went out of the house to meet her friends and a couple of hours later, her body were discovered in an isolated yard. She had been shot in the head, and the local police found her boyfriend trying fleeing the town and arrested him [http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/03/01/5728845/lancaster-family-turns-teens-death.html]. Sierra’s story is one out of a few …show more content…
thousands of cases of dating violence that have been reported over the years and the numbers that have gone unreported are alarmingly high.
Dating abuse and violence has become a significant problem over this last decade. 40% of young people in the United States experience dating related abuse, with a huge numbers of those reported were severe injuries and they were continuing their relationships despite this abuse (Rosen & Bezold, 1996; Sugarman & Hotaling, 1989). Another alarming fact about dating abuse is that dating violence is precursor to spousal abuse and domestic violence, so this cycle of violence and escalating tendency needs to be nipped right in the bud. With the huge advancements in technology communications, the use of technology has shifted the abuse paradigm and now even a simple smartphone is being used as a tool for intimate partner violence. Cyberstalking using emails, text messaging and social media cites, has significantly broadened the purview of abuse, and now harassment, stalking, monitoring partners has become easier than it was before. As digital media is being used to abuse dating partners, this paper explore the feasibility of designing a phoneapp that can detect dating abuse from digital …show more content…
content. Defining Dating Abuse Adolescent dating abuse according to Dr. Barry Levy (Carlson, 2003a; Levy, 1991) is “a pattern of repeated actual or threatened acts that physically, sexually or verbally abuse a member of an unmarried heterosexual or homosexual couple in which one or both partners is between the age of thirteen and twenty”. For the purpose of this research we are focusing on college students as victims of this abuse, so the age range is eighteen to twenty four in this respect. This modified definition fits perfectly for this study as it acknowledges all forms of abuse that may happen to an unmarried couple and takes in account a different dynamic between other types of relationships. It is important to note that domestic violence and adolescent dating abuse is not completely separate or mutually exclusive. Date rape and juvenile crime, along with the other two make up the complete picture of intimate partner violence. Domestic abuse is a more “generic” term, whereas dating abuse is a subpart involving unmarried couples usually in there teen or tweens (Carlson, 2003a) [Christina Nifong]. Dating Violence can be classified into four groups [Barrie Levy, In Love and danger: A teen’s guide to breaking free of abusive relationships] physical abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, sexual abuse and destruction of property.
Physical violence is the most visible form of abuse that is noticed in any form of abusive relationship. It ranges from pinching, to slapping, punching, kicking and hitting. The victims often have serious consequences like severed bruises, broken bones and such injuries have resulted in fatalities. Physical abuse is often the red flag that friends and family notice and this is also very often the final phase abuse can reach to. In the national sample of college students, it was found that 32% of the women have reported experiencing physical abuse from age 14 to college years (Smith, White, & Holland, 2003). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health conducted a survey amongst 7000 high school students, they found that 10% (Halpern, Young, Waller, Martin, & Kupper, 2004) of young women have reported being pushed around by a romantic partner and 3% reported having something thrown at them. In 1997 South Carolina Youth Behavior Risk Survey 9.7% girls between grades 9 and 12 reported physical abuse in a dating relationship and 21.3% reported being sexually assaulted (Coker et al., 2000). Sexual abuse includes rape, attempted rape and coercive sex. All these terms point towards sexual relationships where the person does not give consent or
situations where the person does not “consent” to sex in order to get out of a dangerous situation like beating or physical abuse. Financial control is another form of abuse, though more prevalent in cases of domestic violence. The abuser in this case may stop the victim from getting a job or completing school. This in turn leads to the victim being dependent on the abuser financially and some have said that their boyfriends forced them to turn in their pay checks and any other money they received (Carlson, 2003b; Gamache, 1991). Emotional abuse is the most invisible form of abuse that most of the times goes invisible and this makes it more lethal and easy weapon. Hoffman et al (Hoffman, 1984; Pipes & LeBov-Keeler, 1997) defined psychological abuse as “ behavior sufficiently threatening to the wan so that she believes her capacity to work, interact with family or society or to enjoy good physical or mental health, has been or might be threatened” . Insult, humiliation in public or private, use of abuse language all constitutes emotional abuse. This usually results to a lowered self-esteem, extreme confusion and severe depression, all these factors and given the developmental age of the victims led to a very vulnerable mental state which often leads to self harm issues.
When Deborah was only sixteen she became pregnant with her first child by Cheetah and boy she liked when she was younger. Cheetah and Deborah got married and then had their second child. Deborah became very unhappy in the marriage because Cheetah started drinking and doing drugs. He started abusing Deborah. Cheetah pushed Deborah so much she almost killed him if it wasn’t for Bobbette. Deborah’s brothers Sonny and Lawrence were doing well except for Joe. Joe was another case. Joe went to the military, and the family was hoping that would do him good; but he came out worse than when he went in. Joe was threatened and beaten up by a boy named Ivy. Joe was in so much rage he went and stabbed him and killed him. Joe eventually turned himself in to the law, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced fifteen years in prison.
Schewe, P., Riger, S., Howard, A., Staggs, S., & Mason, G. (2006). Factors Associated with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victimization. Journal Of Family Violence, 21(7), 469-475. doi:10.1007/s10896-006-9042-2
Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., Lewis, I., & Smith, C. (1990). Sexual abuse in a national survey of
Violence against women is not a new social issue and Pamela Copper-Whites’ book The Cry of Tamar does well in bringing this to light not only as a social issue but as a religious issues as well. Tamar’s story sheds light on the violence and degradation of women in the biblical times.
In this paper I will be telling you many different forms of domestic violence. I will include the physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, social abuse, and emotional abuse. I will also describe the "cycle of violence", teen dating violence, and why women stay with an abusive partner.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is historically referred to as domestic violence. It describes a pattern of coercive and assaultive behavior that may include psychological abuse, progressive isolation, sexual assault, physical injury, stalking, intimidation, deprivation, and reproductive coercion among partners (The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), 1999). IPV leads to lifelong consequences such as lasting physical impairment, emotional trauma, chronic health problems, and even death. It is an issue effecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003). More than one in three women in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2012). Thirty to sixty percent of perpetrators tend to also abuse children in the household (Edelson, 1999). Witnessing violence between parents or caretakers is considered the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next (Break the Cycle, 2006).
I selected teen dating violence because this is an issue affecting Eastern North Carolina, affecting teen mothers, high school students, and even middle school kids, are victim of dating violence. As the Community, and Hispanic Outreach Specialist for a Federal funded institution, for four counties in Eastern North Carolina, I have had the opportunity to work with many cases, from child abuse and neglect, homeless, poverty, drug addiction, hunger, HIV cases, domestic violence and the new trend teen dating violence, and one situation is connected to the other.
Sexual assault is a problem that affects many students in colleges. Sexual assault is defined as “any unwanted contact” (6) performed on “an unwilling victim, without consent” (2). This means anything from touching to completed rape. Without consent means that “vigorous efforts were made to avoid sexual contact” (2). Physical symptoms of sexual assault can tamper with the victim’s quality of life. It can be pelvic pain, migraines, and even disability that can prevent a victim from working. There are over 32,000 pregnancies a year that are a result of completed rape, but problems with pregnancy can also be a result of sexual assault. In addition to these effects, women who experience this assault are more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases (2).
Domestic Violence Statistics states, “Around the world, at least one in every 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime” (1). The United States Department of Justice defines domestic violence as, “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner” (para. 1). Domestic violence is a crime that numerous citizens fall victim to in every country. Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence regardless of race, gender, sexuality or religion. Being a victim of domestic violence can affect a person’s way of life permanently and the way these victims interact with other people can become a difficult task and can eventually affect their future. Domestic violence is substantially wrong because it can cause drastic permanent effects in a person’s life, can cause physical, emotional and intellectual damage, and affects a child’s state of mind of what is normal and what is not if they are in a domestic violent atmosphere. While women are usually victims of domestic violence, men are victims of this crime as well. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney states that, “According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, men account for approximately fifteen percent of the victims of reported intimate partner crimes” (Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, par.1). Physical, emotional, economic and physiological abuses are all forms of domestic violence that many people would consider to fall under another crime. There are many crimes that many citizens commit, but domestic violence is one of many that should not be taken lightly.
Probably the most high–profile case dates to 2012, when Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old Canadian took her own life after a sustained period
We experience countless of events, actions that can shape our behavior and personality. Those experiences affect our critical thinking and the outlook of our lives. Some events can lead to positive aspect in our lives and lead to great opportunities. However, traumatic events such as teen dating violence can mentally scarred the victim for life. This leads to the question about the meaning of teen dating violence. Dating violence is the abuse of one partner in the relationship by another partner. Dating violence can range from physical abuse, mental abuse, digital abuse and/or sexual abuse. Physical abuse can be pushing, punching, shoving, choking etc. Mental abuse can be insulting one’s self-worth, manipulations, harassing, threatening, limit restriction of one can or cannot do etc. Digital abuse is the use of technologies or/and social media to take control over your partner. Those abuse can range from demanding passwords, sexting without consent, checking cell-phones, cyberbullying etc. Sexual abuse is forcing a partner to engage in sexual act without
Two of the most common forms of abuse in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood are intimate partner abuse and coerced sex. Intimate partner abuse is almost always accompanied by serious psychological abuse and in one quarter to one half of cases is also accompanied by forced sex. Most women that are abused numerous times often become terrified of their partners. Many are scared to speak to someone about the abuse due to the fear that the abuse will get worse if reported (www.infoforhealth.org).
Social networking and other social technology allows for interactions to occur between friends and family regardless of their location. While people remain social through communicating at a constant rate, the essence of face-to-face interactions is in part affected. In romantic relationships, open and honest communication with one’s partner is critical to the trust and development of the relationship. Young adults use social technology such as the Internet and mobile phones on a daily basis to maintain their relationships. Due to the miscommunication that often occurs from not a lack of face-to-face interactions, social technology shapes the way romantic relationships function. Therefore, social technology impacts romantic relationships through a technological determinist outlook, leading to trust and dissatisfaction issues through the Internet and mobile devices, thus negatively changing face-to-face relationships. Different rhetoric of online communication shapes and transforms problems such as deception in online dating, social monitoring and control on social networking sites, creates negative interpretations and implications of text messages, and thus creates a new image and mindset of romantic relationships.
As professional athletes remind us on a weekly basis, domestic violence is a social problem which continues to plague the nation. Through stricter law enforcement, improved hospital reporting techniques, and nationwide education and counseling, this problem can be reduced. Domestic violence has many different names such as, family violence, battering, wife beating, and domestic abuse. All these terms refer to the same thing, abuse by marital, common law, or a dating partner in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence is not limited to physical beating. It is any behavior that is intended to overpower and control another human being through the use of humiliation, fear, and physical or verbal assault. Domestic violence is a very important issue in today’s society because it has such a profound negative affect on the abused, mentally and physically. Verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse. Verbal abuse is words that attack or injure an individual’s self-image, which eventually shatters one’s self-esteem. In this paper, I will discuss the many kinds of abuses against women, the reasons why women stay in these relationships, and possible solutions to diminish or reduce the problems of domestic violence.
Posting personal information can also make it easier to be stalked. To stalk means to pursue by tracking. The study from Women's Aid and the Network to Survive Stalking, warns that Smartphones are being targete...