Love Without Fear. Dating Violence

Knowledge and perceptions about abusive behaviors of adolescents and young people in residential care

Abstract

Violence is a phenomenon that manifests itself in diverse forms and characterizes various types of relationships. For a long time, dating violence was neglected in the fields of scientific research and social intervention. The challenges related to defining the concept, its operationalization, and the difficulty researchers have accessing young people have contributed to the social invisibility of this issue, leading to its concealment over the years. However, the magnitude of dating violence among adolescents and young women is a growing source of concern. Combating this social problem is crucial, and for certain groups of the population, such as young people living in shelters, developing projects focused on implementing prevention strategies is a priority. Teams of professionals working in shelters, working in partnership with local community institutions, must contribute knowledge to the development of practices that recognize that dating violence is unacceptable. We present the results of an action research experiment conducted at a shelter through awareness-raising sessions on dating violence. In partnership with the UMAR association, through its Art'Themis project, we organized carefully designed sessions to respect the institution's established routine. These sessions were integrated into the regular weekly group meetings, which helped create a more welcoming and participatory environment, ensuring greater participation and engagement among adolescents and young women. A total of four sessions were planned, each aimed at each of the four groups within the shelter. These sessions were tailored to the specificities of each age group and the developmental level of the adolescents and young women. The sessions ensured that the content and dynamics were tailored to their characteristics and needs, promoting awareness, debate, and collective critical reflection on the risks of experiencing abusive relationships. The development of practical activities, such as small group discussions, gave centrality to active group techniques that fostered, through a holistic, systematic, continuous, and age-adapted pedagogy, an educational and transformative approach, promoting not only awareness of dating violence, but also the ability to identify, prevent, and act in situations of abuse, focusing on the development of healthy interpersonal and dating relationships, based on mutual respect, gender equality, and social justice.