Dating Aggression Among High School Students

• NCJ Number: 173325
• Journal: Violence and Victims Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 1997 Pages: 295-305
• Author(s): M Schwartz; S G O'Leary; K T Kendziora
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined links among physical aggression toward a dating partner, parental aggression, and justification of physical aggression during an argument in a sample of 228 (122 male and 106 female) high school students.

Abstract

Instruments used in the study were the Conflict Tactics Scale, which was modified to assess whether and how often students engage in verbal or physical aggression during disagreements with dating partners; the Acceptance of Violence Questionnaire, which measured the extent to which students view specified aggressive behaviors as justified under certain circumstances; and the Family Violence Questionnaire, which measures how often the student has seen each parent hit the other parent or has been hit by each parent. In the study, 44 percent of females and 16 percent of males reported engaging in at least one physically aggressive behavior toward a dating partner during a disagreement. The modal form of aggression was push, grab, or shove for both males and females. The probability that a male, but not a female, would aggress was significantly predicted by parental aggression and justification of aggression. Among aggressive students, the extent of males' aggression was strongly predicted by their justification of aggression. The extent of females' aggression was not predictable. One implication of the findings is that aggression prevention and treatment programs should be tailored differently for males and females. For males, the emphasis should be on attitudes regarding the justifiability of aggression and on the serious consequences of severe forms of violence for both the victim and the aggressor. How best to tailor programs for females is less obvious, but they should at least be alerted to the dangers of using aggressive tactics to solve conflict; emphasis on self-control and alternative conflict resolution strategies is warranted for females. 5 tables and 31 references