Violence is common between partners, friends, and acquaintances both
before and during college, according to a study released on
July 7, 2008 in the Archives of Pediatrics
& Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
Several life chances occur in the transition from living at home to the
college environment, including a significant decrease in parental
monitoring, a modified social support system, relative isolation.
Combined with a strong desire for peer acceptance and a new
environment, this transition could increase the vulnerability of
adolescents to relationship violence and abuse. Investigating this
transition could provide valuable information for support systems
either before or after the college transition period.
This study, led by Christine M. Forke, M.S.N., C.R.N.P., of the
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, examined students at three urban
college campuses. A total 910 undergraduates were canvassed regarding
whether and when they had experienced physical, emotional, or sexual
violence in a relationship. This was used in conjunction with
demographic information collected, including sex, age, race,
and the length of time they had been in school to report several
conclusions.
First, it was clear that it students were more frequently involved in
relationship violence before college than after college; this included
participation as a perpetrator or as a victim. Of the total number
surveyed, 44.7% (407) students had experienced this abuse either before
or during college. This group included 42.1% (383) who were victims and
17.1% (156) who reported that they had perpetrated the abuse. Before
college, 21.1% of violent acts were emotional, making this type
of violence more common than physical or sexual violence. In
contrast, in college, sexual and emotional violence were equally
common, making up 12% and 11.8% respectively.
Males and females were both
involved in abuse. In general, sexual violence perpetrators were more
often male, while physical violence perpetrators were usually women.
When examining victimization, 53% of the women and 27.2% of men
reported being the recipient of the violent acts. Violence also varied
with the relationship of the involved parties: with 130 of the 227
reports, more than half of college violence experienced was between
partners, rather than friends or acquaintances.
The most common type of violence that occurred was emotional. The
authors indicate that this area of abuse should be a higher priority
issue in interventions. "While emotional abuse
frequently is not a focus of violence prevention, it can cause poor
outcomes and may predispose victims to other forms of violence.
Therefore, educational efforts focusing on healthy relationships should
begin during childhood."
According to the authors,
this is a clear indication that all types of relationship violence is
prevalent among these groups of students at some time: "In conclusion,
all forms of relationship violence are prevalent among male and female
college students; almost half of the students had experienced
relationship violence at some point in their lives, more than one-third
had experienced violence before college and one-quarter had experienced
violence during college."
Relationship Violence
Among Female and Male College Undergraduate Students
Christine M. Buy cipro without prescription Forke; Rachel K. Myers; Marina Catallozzi; Donald F.
Schwarz
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.
2008;162[7]:634-641.
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
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