Family Violence and the Perpetration of Adolescent Dating Violence: Examining Social Learning and Social Control Processes

• NCJ Number: 181439
• Journal: Journal of Marriage and the Family Volume: 61 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1999 Pages: 331-342
• Author(s): Vangie A. Foshee; Karl E. Bauman; G. Fletcher Linder
• Date Published: May 1999
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study empirically examines why exposure to family violence and adolescent dating violence are associated.

Abstract

Data for this study were gathered from self-administered questionnaires completed in schools by 1,965 eighth- and ninth-grade students. Exposure to family violence was positively associated with dating violence. For both genders, this relationship was measured by the social-learning-theory-derived variables of acceptance of dating violence and aggressive conflict-response style. For males, the relationship also was mediated by the social-learning-derived variable of positive outcome expectations and the control-theory-derived variable of belief in the conventional rules of society. Because the study used a cross-sectional design, the temporality of relationships could not be assessed. Violent adolescents may produce violent behavior by parents, and changes in social-learning and control-theory variables may be consequences rather than causes of adolescent dating violence. Tables, figure, references