Teen Dating Violence

1. Teen Dating Violence Dana Malone—F.Y.I. Ryan T. Steinmetz—La Casa Las Cruces, NM

2. 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

3. 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

4. Dating Violence Statistics • 91% to 95% of all documented reports of adult domestic violenceare women abused by their male partner. • Battering is the major cause of injuryto women aged 14-45, causing more injuries than auto accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. • 25% of pregnant women seekingprenatal care have been batteredduring their pregnancy. State of New Mexico, Attorney General's Office www.ago.state.nm.us

5. Dating Violence Statistics • 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 • 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

6. 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. Bureau of Justice Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence, May 2000 • Women who have separated from their abusive partners often remain at risk of violence. Campbell et al. 2003; Fleury, Sullivan and Bybee 2000

7. 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

8. Common clues that indicate a teenager may be experiencing dating violence: • 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

9. 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.

10. Types of Abuse • Physical Abuse (punches, kicks, slaps, pulling hair) • Verbal Abuse (name calling, using profanity, threat) • 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 financially independent) • Special Populations: Child Witnesses, Immigrants (human trafficking, using immigration status as P & C)

11. CYCLE OF ABUSE III. Explosion I. Honeymoon II. Tension

12. 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.

13. Power and Control Relationships

14. Equality Relationships

15. 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 • Equating love with belonging and acceptance • Uncertainty due to developmental stage

16. Erikson’s Stages of Development • School-Age ChildIndustry vs InferiorityTries to develop a sense of self-worth by refining skills • AdolescentIdentity vs Role ConfusionTries integrating many roles (child, sibling, student, athlete, worker) into a self-image under role model and peer pressure • Young AdultIntimacy vs IsolationLearns to make personal commitment to another asspouse, parent or partner

17. Erikson continued… • If during the Industry vs. Inferiority stage, child does not find self-worth, will deal with low self-esteem 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.

18. Erikson continued… • 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.

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.