Teen Dating Violence Teen Relationships

Healthy Relationships Have... Respect (mentally, physically, sexually) Honesty Open communication Support Care and understanding Civil arguments and disagreements Independence

Unhealthy Relationships Have… Disrespect (mental, physical, sexual) Lying Controlling Criticism that isn’t constructive Intimidation Arguments and disagreements that spiral out of control Harassment Unreasonable amount of dependence

Warning Signs of Abuse Shows concern or fear about upsetting or angering dating partner Teen excuses partner's behavior or apologizes for partner Teen spends much of his or her time with the dating partner and little time with others Teen receives an excessive number of calls, emails, or texts from partner Teen has sudden changes in interests, drop in grades, etc. Teen shows signs of distress, including the use of substances Teen has unexplained bruises, marks, or injuries

Teen Dating Violence A pattern of physically, sexually, verbally, and/or emotionally abusive behavior in a dating relationship

Physical Abuse Any intentional unwanted contact with the other person’s body. Physical abuse does not have to leave a mark or a bruise.

Sexual Abuse Any sexual behavior that is unwanted or interferes with the other person’s right to say “no” to sexual advances

Verbal/Emotional Abuse Saying or doing something to the other person that causes the person to be afraid, have lower self-esteem, or manipulates or controls the person’s feeling or beliefs or behaviors

Abuser A person who physically, sexually, verbally or emotionally hurts an intimate partner

Target A person who is hurt physically, sexually, verbally, or emotionally by an intimate partner

Bystander A person who is aware that someone is being abused in a dating relationship. The bystander may become aware of the abuse through the abuser’s or the target’s actions or words.

Violence Cycle Battering incidents that begin on the mild side of the continuum but will escalate further and further toward the fatal side of the continuum unless intervention to stop abuse is utilized. Has 3 phases:1st- Tension Buildup, 2nd- Explosion, 3rd- Honeymoon Phase

Tension buildup Things start to get tense between the 2 people

Explosion The tension is released in the burst of physical, sexual, and/or verbal/emotional abuse.

Honeymoon Phase The abuser tries to make the target stay in the relationship by apologizing and/or trying to shift the blame for the abuse ontol someone or something else. The couple will apologize and peace will be stored.