Domestic Violence Shelters: What Influences Their Ability to Provide Teen Dating Violence Prevention Programing?

Background and Purpose

Up to half of teens experience some form of teen dating violence (TDV) in the United States, making TDV a major public health concern. Many domestic violence agencies within the U.S. try to address the alarming rates of violence in adolescent relationships by providing both intervention and prevention programming in their communities. Many TDV prevention efforts are implemented within the school system. This research analyzed factors that influenced domestic violence shelters’ ability to provide TDV prevention programming to schools.  Specifically, this study examined the factors that influence domestic violence shelters’ ability to reach middle and high schools within their communities and the percentage of students within the schools that they are able to reach.

Method

We collected email addresses of domestic violence shelters within each state by visiting the state’s domestic violence coalition websites and gathering the state resources. A total of 1154 shelters across the U.S. were emailed a survey regarding their TDV prevention efforts. We sent follow-up emails one week after the initial request. Seventy-eight emails were returned as undeliverable. A total of 1076 emails were thus sent out to various agencies and 209 agencies (20%) responded to the online survey.  The survey, developed by the researchers, asked the domestic violence agencies to report: (1) TDV prevention efforts, including estimates of the percentage of middle and high schools in which they provide TDV programming; and estimates of percent of students receiving the programming; (2) programming characteristics; and (3) organizational characteristics. In this study, we focused on factors that influenced shelters’ ability to reach schools and students in their communities.

Results

Multivariate analysis was conducted examining the relationship between state laws, utilizing a standard curriculum, parenting programming, and the director having a degree in social work with the shelter’s ability to reach students in middle and high schools in their communities. Results of the regression analyses indicate the number of middle and high schools reached by shelters were significantly related to the shelter’s executive director holding a degree in social work. Additionally, the number of high school students reached related to shelters utilizing a standardized curriculum with their programming. The number of middle schools reached within a community related to whether or not a state had a law requiring TDV programming be provided in the school system.

Implications

Findings suggest that there is no one set of factors that influence how many schools and students shelters reach with their TDV prevention programming. Although state law influences numbers of middle schools reached in a community, the use of standardized curriculum influences numbers of students reached within a school. Qualifications of organizational leaders also appear to influence the reach of the programming within schools.  Knowledge about the factors that influence shelters’ ability to provide TDV prevention programming in their communities can be an important step in expanding TDV prevention programming to all adolescents.