Adolescentce Dating Violence: Theoretical Approaches

This paper provides an overview and brief history of the theory of violence in dating relationship, a review of relevant research, and conclusions with the main findings and guidelines for future research. We discuss two broad approaches to adolescent dating violence. The first approach is based in the investigation of cultural or individual factors of violent behavior in intimate relationships. The second approach is based on examination of the dynamic nature and process of violent behavior. The first approach comprises feministic theories, theory of social learning, and theory of individual differences. The second approach highlights the dynamic developmental system model, instigating/impelling/inhibiting model of intimate partner violence and contextual model. This review presents a framework of causes and complexity of dating violence based on the existing theoretical dating violence literature.