Disclosure of dating violence victims: strategies and reasons for help-seeking

Caridade, Sónia; Pinheiro, Inês; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta

http://hdl.handle.net/10284/8083

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Authors

Caridade, Sónia

Pinheiro, Inês

Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta

Abstract(s)

Help-seeking in dating violence (DV) is crucial to mitigate the risks associated with adolescent and young people’s mental health, improving conflict negotiation skills and anger management, as well as developing strategies for self-protection and prevention of future violence. A qualitative study to analyse and characterize the disclosure in victims of DV, more specifically to identify strategies and reasons for help-seeking, is presented in this chapter. A semi-structured and in-depth interview was used to collect data from 13 DV victims, aged 17-30 years old (M = 25 and SD = 3.66 years old). The content of the interviews was submitted to thematic analysis. Participants have identified several barriers for help-seeking (i.e., threats, fear of losing partner, feeling of shame, not recognizing abuse); victims tend to seek more informal help (i.e., family, friends, siblings) rather than formal help (i.e., counsellors, health professionals); the preference for an informal help source is justified by the greater availability, the fact that some sources know and witness DV and the greater awareness of the situation; participants also identified a number of social reactions, most of which were interpreted by the victims as positive (i.e., emotional support, seeking formal help, conversation with the abuser). In conclusion, efforts to prevent or intervene in DV relationships should reinforce the need to encourage the help-seeking behaviour of DV victims in order to favour their psychological adjustment and prevent further aggression.

Keywords

Help-seeking sources Dating violence Disclosure

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10284/8083

Citation

Caridade, S., Pinheiro, I., & Dinis, A. (2019). Disclosure in victims of dating violence: Strategies and reasons for help-seeking. In W. Spencer (Ed.), Dating violence: Prevalence, risk Factors and perspectives (pp. 85-106). New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.