TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceptions of Risk for Dating Violence Among Rural Adolescent Males
T2 - An Interpretive Analysis
AU - Emezue, Chuka Nestor
AU - Dougherty, Debbie S.
AU - Enriquez, Maithe
AU - Bullock, Linda
AU - Bloom, Tina L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The University of Missouri (MU) Sinclair School of Nursing’s Sigma Theta Tau International, Alpha Iota Chapter, and the Raymond White Dissertation Fellowship from the MU Graduate School provided financial support for the author’s (C.N.E.) dissertation study.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - About one in eight U.S. high school students in Grades 9 to 12 report experiencing teen dating violence (TDV) in the form of physical, sexual, or psychological dating violence in the past year in person, on school grounds, and online. Compared with their urban counterparts, rural teens face nearly double the rate of physical dating abuse and an elevated risk of experiencing multiple forms of violence. Rural young males are exposed to regional masculinities and gender norms that may simultaneously promote female subordination (a prelude to dating violence) while impeding help-seeking intentions. We used an interpretive and dialectical approach grounded in Relational Dialectics Theory to explore how rural young males perceive and describe their own risk of experiencing and perpetrating dating violence and the factors contributing to their help-seeking intentions and behaviors. Data from three focus groups and individual interviews with 27 rural young males (ages 15–24) were collated. We identified two central dialectical themes described as (a) Social Tension Dialectics (subthemes include: Abusive vs. Unhealthy Relationships: A Dialectic of Language; #MeToo vs. #WeToo: A Dialectic of Victimhood; “It’s All Country Boys”: A Dialectic of Masculinity) and (b) Help-Seeking Dialectics demonstrating the dual roles Religion, School Guidance Counselors, Peer Mentors, and Social Cohesion play in promoting or preventing dating violence. Overall, we found dialectic tensions in rural youth risk perceptions about dating violence. These findings bear implications for advocates and practitioners working with rural youth in planning developmentally and culturally appropriate TDV prevention programs, offering policy and research-relevant insight.
AB - About one in eight U.S. high school students in Grades 9 to 12 report experiencing teen dating violence (TDV) in the form of physical, sexual, or psychological dating violence in the past year in person, on school grounds, and online. Compared with their urban counterparts, rural teens face nearly double the rate of physical dating abuse and an elevated risk of experiencing multiple forms of violence. Rural young males are exposed to regional masculinities and gender norms that may simultaneously promote female subordination (a prelude to dating violence) while impeding help-seeking intentions. We used an interpretive and dialectical approach grounded in Relational Dialectics Theory to explore how rural young males perceive and describe their own risk of experiencing and perpetrating dating violence and the factors contributing to their help-seeking intentions and behaviors. Data from three focus groups and individual interviews with 27 rural young males (ages 15–24) were collated. We identified two central dialectical themes described as (a) Social Tension Dialectics (subthemes include: Abusive vs. Unhealthy Relationships: A Dialectic of Language; #MeToo vs. #WeToo: A Dialectic of Victimhood; “It’s All Country Boys”: A Dialectic of Masculinity) and (b) Help-Seeking Dialectics demonstrating the dual roles Religion, School Guidance Counselors, Peer Mentors, and Social Cohesion play in promoting or preventing dating violence. Overall, we found dialectic tensions in rural youth risk perceptions about dating violence. These findings bear implications for advocates and practitioners working with rural youth in planning developmentally and culturally appropriate TDV prevention programs, offering policy and research-relevant insight.
KW - adolescents
KW - dating violence
KW - dialectics
KW - risk perception
KW - rural
KW - youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140858499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85140858499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/15579883221126884
DO - 10.1177/15579883221126884
M3 - Article
C2 - 36305641
AN - SCOPUS:85140858499
SN - 1557-9883
VL - 16
JO - American journal of men's health
JF - American journal of men's health
IS - 5
ER -