Responding to teen dating violence: Perspectives from mothers who have been abused and seeking services in domestic violence shelters

ABSTRACT

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a significant public health problem, but we know little about how mothers who have been abused respond to TDV. This article analyzes qualitative data from three focus groups conducted with 17 mothers who had experienced abuse. Mothers responded to four hypothetical scenarios of their child reporting TDV to them. Mothers reported that their approach to children’s reports of TDV would entail engaging in varying levels of authoritarianism, considering the gender of the child, and exercising caution in their responses. In response to the scenarios, mothers stated that they would ask questions, educate their teens, contact the perpetrator and/or parents, share their own experiences, and call for outside help. The study’s findings may assist prevention educators working with mothers who experienced abuse in responding to their children’s disclosures of incidents of TDV.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• mothers’ responses to TDV
• teen dating violence (TDV)

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Simmons Foundation through the Innovative Community Academic Partnership Program at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Simmons Foundation through the Innovative Community Academic Partnership Program at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work.