Measuring And Preventing Teen Dating Violence: Start Strong Essay.

Write a brief comparative paper (3-5 pages, double-spaced) that explores a topic of their  choice through an analysis of two scholarly journal articles. The paper should  nclude a discussion of the  main arguments of both articles, the methods used to collect data, the most significant evidence and  examples raised, and the conclusions of each article. More importantly, your paper must also provide a  critical comparative analysis.  Some possible questions to consider in your paper are:

• When were the articles published? Why might this be significant when comparing their methods,  findings, and conclusions?
• How did the choice of approach to research shape the findings and conclusions? How do the  approaches, or methods, used in each article compare?

• Do you think anything was missing from the analysis provided in the articles? When the articles  are considered together, do they present specific or representative conclusions?
• How do these articles connect with other course material and the broader themes in the course?  Are theories reinforced or contradicted? How does the information provided in your articles allow  for a deeper understanding and stronger critical analysis of theories and research that has been  previously discussed in the course?
 

Measuring TDV

Dating among teenagers is a very common phenomenon nowadays and it is on the rise. With the inception of the social networking sites and their growth in the last decade the trend of dating has gone up among teenagers in middle schools (Cutbush et al., 2018). As good as it sounds the ground level reality is not so rosy (Cohen et al., 2018). Violence is a major issue in teen dating that can cause sexual victimization and mental trauma to a teenager (Hamby & Turner, 2013). In this essay teen dating violence is being discussed and measured quantitatively and prevention of dating violence among teenagers will also be discussed and evaluated by the implication of Start Strong initiative (Miller et al., 2015).

Two articles have been chosen named “Measuring teen dating violence in males and females: insights from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence” by Hamby and Turner (2013) and “Evaluation of the Start Strong initiative: preventing teen dating violence and promoting healthy relationships among middle school students” by Miller et al. (2015) to focus on different aspects of teen dating violence (TDV). According to Hamby and Turner (2013) both males and females are victims of teen dating violence (TDV). Impacts of various operationalizations related to TDV have been assessed by them. Gender patterns of TDV, injury and victimization based on sex and scores of both male and female related to TDV have been calculated in the TDV score. Differences of gender in fear reports have been compared with victimization types in teen dating violence. Fear report was measured when the victim did not report the incident in the fear of retaliation from the offender. Teenagers aged between 12 to 17 were interviewed via telephone for the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. The TDV rate was in the range of 1.4% to 7.5%  based on inclusion criteria (Hamby & Turner, 2013). For injurious violence from sexual abuse or physical force rates were in the range of 1.9 % to 6.3 % for females and 1.0% to 8.6% for males (Hamby & Turner, 2013). Except for physical force most other operationalization showed higher rate in females compared to males. Physical force which is the most common victimization in TDV resulted in 7.9% for male compared to 4.5% for female (Hamby & Turner, 2013). Sexual and physical injurious, fear-inducing victimization in teen dating violence resulted in a higher rate in females which was 5.1% whereas significantly lower in males that was only 3.1% (Hamby & Turner, 2013). Females were victimized more while dating in comparison to the males in teen dating. Dating in young age should be encouraged but should not result in gender based sexual and physical victimization as it can create a long lasting effect on the person in such a juvenile age. That psychological scar would not go too easily.

Insights from the National Survey

According to Miller et al., (2015) “Start Strong” was a campaign to build healthy relationships among teenagers aged between 11 to 14. Objective of the campaign was to promote healthy relationships among teenagers and to develop their attitude towards dating reducing the frequency of TDV as a result. An independent evaluation of the campaign was done which resulted in positive feedback about the initiative (Miller et al., 2015). The evaluation was based on comparison of data collected from two sets of schools. First set of 4 schools were under the “Start Strong” campaign and second set of 4 schools were chosen to compare with the first set (Miller et al., 2015). Second set of schools were not running the “Start Strong” campaign. Surveys were held to collect data of  7^th and 8^th standard students at the beginning and the ending of the curriculum. To quantify the effect of the campaign teen dating violence (TDV) related incidents were observed numerously along with the overall behavior and personality of each student who participated in the survey (Miller et al., 2015). Data collection was done from both sets of schools through multilevel models. 

Students from first set of schools who were running the “Start Strong” campaign showed greater satisfaction in dating relationships, lesser TDV incidents, higher communication with parents and lesser gender based discrimination among teenagers compared to the second set of schools (Miller et al., 2015). So the results were positive indeed and the initiative of running the “Start Strong” campaign was successful in the first set of schools in reducing the teen dating violence (TDV). From the evaluation the difference of running the campaign with the schools who are not entertaining the “Start Strong” was significant. Effect of the campaign reduced violence in teen dating and increased communication with parents which is critical in such a young age (Beatriz et al., 2018).

First article by Hamby and Turner (2013) introduces the problem of TDV and discuss different factors involved with it. The article illustrates the detailed statistics based on gender and focuses on different operationalizations related to teen dating violence. Second article is an evaluation of the “Start Strong” campaign which is solely focusing on reducing teen dating violence (TDV). The community based campaign was successful in reducing the rate of TDV among the teenagers. It also helps in personality development and building up healthy relationships among the teenagers. In early adolescence period individuals imitate anything from their peer groups very easily (Shorey et al., 2018). They get carried away with bad habits at that juvenile age like consumption of alcohol which indirectly affect their attitude and personality. These can also lead to dating violence in teenagers (Livingston et al., 2018). Sometimes family violence can affect the personality development of a teenager that may lead to a bad relationship when that individual is dating (Espelage, Hong & Valido, 2019). So to tackle teen dating violence (TDV) a holistic approach should be taken where overall personality development of the teenager will be taken care of. “Start Strong” campaign played the similar role go work the attitude, behaviour, personality development and communication of the teenager which made him a better person (Beatriz et al., 2018).

These two articles gives an overview about a social problem and a solution to a better future of that problem. The research has helped to address the teen dating violence which is a significant problem in society nowadays. The solution has also been evaluated and it has been a success to reduce teen dating violence (TDV). Hopefully more campaigns like “Start Strong” will be conducted in future to tackle social problems like TDV. 

References

Beatriz, E. D., Lincoln, A. K., Alder, J., Daley, N., Simmons, F., Ibeh, K., ... & Molnar, B. E. (2018). Evaluation of a Teen Dating Violence Prevention Intervention among Urban Middle-School Youth Using Youth Participatory Action Research: Lessons Learned from Start Strong Boston. Journal of Family Violence, 33(8), 563-578.

Cohen, J. R., Shorey, R. C., Menon, S. V., & Temple, J. R. (2018). Predicting teen dating violence perpetration. Pediatrics, e20172790.

Cutbush, S., Williams, J., Miller, S., Gibbs, D., & Clinton-Sherrod, M. (2018). Longitudinal patterns of electronic teen dating violence among middle school students. Journal of interpersonal violence, 0886260518758326.

Espelage, D. L., Hong, J. S., & Valido, A. (2019). Associations Among Family Violence, Bullying, Sexual Harassment, and Teen Dating Violence. Adolescent Dating Violence. Theory, Research and Prevention; Wolfe, DA, Temple, JR, Eds, 85-102.

Hamby, S., & Turner, H. (2013). Measuring teen dating violence in males and females: insights from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. Psychology of Violence, 3(4), 323.

Livingston, J. A., Eiden, R. D., Lessard, J., Casey, M., Henrie, J., & Leonard, K. E. (2018). Etiology of teen dating violence among adolescent children of alcoholics. Journal of youth and adolescence, 47(3), 515-533.

Miller, S., Williams, J., Cutbush, S., Gibbs, D., Clinton-Sherrod, M., & Jones, S. (2015). Evaluation of the Start Strong initiative: preventing teen dating violence and promoting healthy relationships among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(2), S14-S19.

Shorey, R. C., Wymbs, B., Torres, L., Cohen, J. R., Fite, P. J., & Temple, J. R. (2018). Does change in perceptions of peer teen dating violence predict change in teen dating violence perpetration over time?. Aggressive behavior, 44(2), 156-164.