Social Representations of Adolescent Dating Violence in Chile. Implications for Policy and Practice

Background and Purpose: Adolescent Dating Violence (ADV) is a significant public health problem, affecting 7% to 15% of adolescents from different social and economic classes in Chile. However, the academic interest for ADV is relatively new. Traditionally, social scientists in Chile have explored the issue of domestic violence primarily on adult couples, and consequently their practice and policy recommendations are less adequate for other segments of the population. Within the few studies focused on ADV, prevalence rates have received more academic attention. Nevertheless, a limited number of empirical researches have explored the importance of social representations in adolescent behaviors. Guided by the theory and method of social representations (Abric, 2003; Moscovici, 1963), this paper is focused on the analysis of thoughts, discourses, and experiences of dating violence constructed by male and female adolescents from different socioeconomic status (SES).

Methods: The study surveys 142 teenagers (62 male and 80 female) aged between 14 and 18 years old, from two different SES: disadvantaged and privileged. Participants were recruited from seven public and private schools in the metropolitan area of Concepcion in the South of Chile. Three types of data collection methods were employed to gather the information: “Free Association” and “Mini-Survey” at the individual level, and focus groups at the collective level. A third of the adolescents (48) participated in the focus groups. This paper is based in the focus groups' results. Following an inductive approach to qualitative analysis, focus groups were transcribed verbatim and coded thematically using NVivo qualitative software. The main areas of analyses were perceptions, beliefs and knowledge about ADV.

Results: There were five central themes representing teenagers' social representations about ADV with some important differences associated with gender and SES: 1)Violence is not a serious problem in adolescent couples; 2)Adolescents define behaviors as abusive only in specific circumstances and contexts (when there are intention and damage); 3)The majority said boys use more physical abuse and girls use more psychological abuse. Additionally, physical violence by girls is more tolerated by society; 4)The current Chilean context is characterized by cultural changes in gender equality however, a patriarchal cultural dimension, labelled as “machismo”, is identified as an important explicative factor for ADV; 5)Participants believed that the current Chilean public policies are only focused on adult experiences.

Conclusions and Implications: The results of this study indicate that these representations can influence the naturalization of violence in teenagers' relationships. It is important to take into account the cultural context, specifically the Latin-American patriarchal society, because this influences adolescents' behaviors and the reproduction of gender stereotypes. Conversely, there are particularities in the youths' experiences that are different to adult experiences (type of relationships, significations and gestures of violence used, and girls' use of aggression with boys). These differences are crucial to the development of prevention policies and programs. The aforementioned representations provide several guidelines for researchers and practitioners interested in preventing violence in adolescent dating relationships.