Professional Documents
Culture Documents
pattern of coercive, manipulative behavior that one partner exerts over the other for the purpose
of establishing and maintaining power and control (Break the Cycle). To maintain power and
control the perpetrator may inflict aggressive behavior which can include verbal, emotional,
physical, isolation or sexual abuse. Some of the actions the perpetrator inflicts on the victim is
hitting, kicking, insulting, humiliating, intimidating, restricting access to birth control or stalking
on social media. This makes it dangerous for teens because they may believe these actions are
caring but it can be the perpetrators way of keeping the victim isolated.
Although there is not an exact characteristic of how these victims ought to be in order to
become affected by dating violence, but there are risk factors that can cause someone to be in an
abusive relationship. For both male and females, low self-esteem is often a characteristic of
adolescents involved in dating violence. Males who have low self-esteem are more likely to
initiate dating violence while females with low self-esteem are more likely to become victims
(Powers and Kerman). Low self-esteem can cause victims to stay in the abusive relationship
because they believe they're not good enough for love from someone else . It is important to
teach adolescents about self love before teens get into relationships because lack of self- love
makes them more vulnerable to the abuser. Teens upbringing can also be a risk factor that can
lead to dating violence. Studies show that adolescents who experienced greater family
instability, maltreatment, or social disadvantage tend to date at a younger age and experience
dating violence at higher than average rates (Powers and Kerman). Not having a stable
childhood or experiencing violence at home can affect how teens view relationships. Teens can
be influenced by believing relationships are about power and control. However if you have low
self-esteem or family instability it does not mean you will be in a abusive relationship but it does
The way teens have been taught due to societal norms may affect teens behavior when it
comes to dating violence. Gender roles and dating relationships play a considerable role in the
process of determining behavior patterns among the teenagers (Love Does Not Hurt). Since
birth, society has taught males to be masculine, strong, aggressive, controlling and never show
emotion. Females have been taught to be feminine, pretty, submissive, passive and shy the film
The Mask You live In has stated. These norms have impacted the roles of dating violence making
males more likely to be the abuser and females more likely to be the victim (Newsom).
Eliminating gender roles and teaching adolescence that they need not be masculine or feminine
Mainstream media can be a great way to spread information but it can also send the
wrong message to adolescents. Mainstream media does not help when there is a lot of pressure
exerted on teens by their peers to look and act in a certain way(Religion and Violence
Elearning). The film The Mask You Live In showed how males see the media portraying females
in a disrespectful and degrading manner which influence their actions towards women. They see
how women are being treated which influences males to think it's acceptable to control their
girlfriends. Seeing that mainstream media is something teens are exposed to, it should stop