THE EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXPERIENCE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS ON DATING VIOLENCE

Yu-Kyung Park*

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the degree of dating violence, a recent problem in the heterosexual dating of college students, and to examine the effects of domestic violence experiences on it. The objectives of this study were to develop abuser programs for preventing dating violence and to prevent domestic violence. The subjects of this study were students of C University located in Ulsan. This study examined 164 subjects who agreed to the survey after listening to the objectives of the study. The survey was conducted from May 4 to May 31, 2019, and data was collected in a self-administered survey based on a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 22 program. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, in this study, the dating abuse score was 22.38±7.89 points for males students and 21.54±8.49points for female students. Second, the results of this study showed that the common variables affecting dating abuse were living with parents (t=-2.62, p=.032) and the persistence of violence between parents (t=3.12, p=.005). Third, the results of correlation analysis revealed that date abuse experience was significantly and positively correlated with psychological domestic dispute (r=.41, p=<.001), physical domestic dispute (r=.51, p=<.001), psychological child abuse (r=.46, p=<.001), physical child abuse (r=.50, p=<.001), psychological dating violence (r=.94, p=<.001), physical dating violence (r=.88, p=<.001), and sexual dating violence (r=.78, p=<.001). Fourth, the factors affecting dating abuse were living with parents (β=.034, p<.001), experience of witnessing violence between parents (β=.123, p<.002), and domestic violence experience in childhood (β=.034, p<.002). The explanatory power of dating violence was 33.2% (F=28.06, p=.001). The results of this study showed that trust formation and interest from parents were important to prevent date abuse and it was confirmed that interest and affection for children were necessary to achieve this. Moreover, it was found that children who experienced domestic violence were more like to commit dating abuse in adulthood. Therefore, interventions will be needed to minimize the negative effects of domestic violence experiences or to enhance the individual's ability to cope with negative effects by providing therapeutic approaches for children who have experienced violence. It is rare that sexual violence and sex-related curriculums are organized systematically for college students in South Korea. Therefore, it is necessary to implement dating violence programs such as personal counseling and group counseling at the Sexual Violence Counseling Center and Student Life Research Center on the campus to raise awareness about the dating situation for college students. Furthermore, it will be necessary to perform repetitive research targeting male and female college students living in various regions with considering the degree of date violence awareness by the characteristics of regions and to provide dating abuser prevention education as well as the psychological treatment and recovery of dating violence victims.

Keywords: Domestic violence experience, dating, and abuse.