Transcript Teen Dating Violence - New Mexico State University

Teen Dating Violence
Dana Malone—F.Y.I.
Ryan T. Steinmetz—La Casa
Las Cruces, NM
FYI / La Casa
Families and Youth, Incorporated; offering
a variety of counseling and support
services to the youth of Las Cruces, NM
including teen shelter and transitional
living programs
 La Casa Domestic Violence Center, offering
emergency shelter services, counseling,
education, and support for DV victims and
their families
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Ashley Wax
Las Cruces: On Sunday, February 27, 2005 at
12:54 pm, police responded in reference to a
possible shooting. David Garcia shot his
girlfriend Ashley Wax in the chest outside her
home after Wax broke up with him. Police state
that the teenage couple were arguing in front of
the residence when 16 year old Garcia pulled a
handgun from his pickup and fired one shot
striking 15 year old Wax in the chest. Ashley
Wax was rushed to Mountain View Regional
Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Lisa Amaya, Las Cruces Sun-News, February 28, 2005
Dating Violence Statistics
91% to 95% of all documented
reports of adult domestic violence
are women abused by their male partner.
 Battering is the major cause of injury
to women aged 14-45, causing more
injuries than auto accidents, muggings,
and rapes combined.
 25% of pregnant women seeking
prenatal care have been battered
during their pregnancy.
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State of New Mexico, Attorney General's Office www.ago.state.nm.us
Dating Violence Statistics
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Women of all races are about equally
vulnerable to violence by an intimate
partner.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey, August 1995
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On average, more than three women
are murdered by their husbands or
boyfriends in this country every day.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001, February 2003
Dating Violence Statistics
One in three high school students have
been or will be involved in an abusive
relationship.
 Sixty-eight percent of young women raped
knew their rapist either as a boyfriend,
friend or casual acquaintance.
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Bureau of Justice Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence, May 2000
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Women who have separated from their
abusive partners often remain at risk of
violence.
Campbell et al. 2003; Fleury, Sullivan and Bybee 2000
Dating Violence Statistics

Approximately one in five female
high school students reports being
physically and/or sexually abused by
a dating partner.
Bureau of Justice Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence, May 2000

40% of girls age 14-17 report
knowing someone their age who has
been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
Children Now/Kaiser Permanente poll, December 1995
Common clues that indicate a teenager
may be experiencing dating violence:
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Physical signs of injury
Truancy, dropping out of school
Failing grades
Indecision
Changes in mood or personality
Use of drugs/alcohol
Pregnancy
Emotional outburst
Isolation
Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, http://www.acadv.org/dating.html
What is Dating Violence?
Dating Violence is a pattern of
coercive/abusive behavior that is
used by one person in a
relationship to exert POWER and
CONTROL over an intimate
partner OR a family member.
Types of Abuse
Physical Abuse (punches, kicks, slaps, pulling hair)
 Verbal Abuse (name calling, using profanity, threat)
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Mental/Emotional Abuse (intimidation, controlling
behavior, isolation, extreme jealousy, using/manipulating
children)
Sexual Abuse (rape, sexual coercion)
 Economic Abuse (not letting partner get a job or be
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financially independent)
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Special Populations: Child Witnesses, Immigrants
(human trafficking, using immigration status as P & C)
CYCLE OF ABUSE
III. Explosion
I. Honeymoon
II. Tension
What is the difference between
domestic violence and other forms of
violence ?
A fundamental difference is that
domestic violence occurs within
ongoing relationships that are
expected to be protective,
supportive and nurturing.
Power and Control Relationships
Intimidation
Emotional &Threats
Sexual
Verbal
Coercion
Abuse
Isolation
& Extreme
Jealousy
Power
& Control
Financial
Economic
Abuse
Sexism/
Denying
Male
Minimizing
Blaming
Using Privilege
Children
Equality Relationships
Sexual
Safety Financial/
Nonthreatening
Economic
Behavior
Independence
Trust
Support
Equality
Connection
With Others
Negotiation
Fairness
Responsible
Parenting
Honesty
Accountability
Challenges Facing Teens and
Dating Relationships
Experiencing their first relationships
 Acting out partner roles that they have
witnessed growing up
 Hormones/Puberty—suddenly notice and
interested in the opposite sex
 Peer Pressure to be in relationships
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Equating love with belonging and acceptance
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Uncertainty due to developmental stage
Erikson’s Stages of Development
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School-Age Child
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Tries to develop a sense of self-worth by refining skills
Adolescent
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Tries integrating many roles (child, sibling, student,
athlete, worker) into a self-image under role model and
peer pressure
Young Adult
Industry vs Inferiority
Identity vs Role Confusion
Intimacy vs Isolation
Learns to make personal commitment to another as
spouse, parent or partner
Erikson continued…
If during the Industry vs. Inferiority stage, child
does not find self-worth, will deal with low selfesteem heading into the next stage.
 This affects their self-understanding and ability
to appropriately define themselves during the
Identity vs. Role Confusion stage. They may
tend to define themselves by others’ perceptions
and more easily succumb to peer pressure.
 Most teens are testing relationships far before
they reach the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage.
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Erikson continued…
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If the teen has not appropriately dealt
with issues of low self-esteem and/or has
not had adequate opportunity to define
and understand him/her self, HE/SHE MAY
BE MUCH MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO
GETTING INTO AN ABUSIVE
RELATIONSHIP OR BEING THE
PERPETRATOR OF AN ABUSIVE
RELATIONSHIP.
FYI/La Casa Joint Grant—What
made us try this collaboration?
Recognized that a majority of youth in FYI’s teen
shelter and transitional living programs have
witnessed or been actual victims or perpetrators
of dating or domestic violence
 Clients in the teen shelter and transitional living
programs are at a greater risk of being a part of
dating violence relationships due to the nature
of the issues they are dealing with
 Rise of dating violence cases in Las Cruces,
including the fatal case of Ashley Wax
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FYI/La Casa Joint Grant—What
made us try this collaboration?
In 2005, 17% of clients placed into the
shelter and TLP programs were placed
specifically due to domestic violence
happening in the homes
 35 % of runaway youth, according to the
National Runaway Switchboard 2005
statistics, runaway because of family
dynamics in the home
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FYI/La Casa Grant Collaboration
 Of
150 teen shelter and
transitional living program clients
served in 2005-2006, at least
67% of those clients had either
witnessed or been a victim or
perpetrator of domestic/dating
violence.