‘Partner abuse common' in Report on disadvantaged youth

A new piece of research from the University of Bristol has highlighted higher than expected levels of violence within intimate relationships among youth outside the mainstream education system.

The research was commissioned by UK based children’s organisation the National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and carried out by The University of Bristol. 

The research is a follow up study to Partner exploitation and violence in teenage intimate relationships (2009). Barter, C.; McCarry, M.; Berridge, D.; Evans, K. Research undertaken at Bristol University and the NSPCC, which focused exclusively on youth in mainstream education.

Interviews were conducted with 44 boys and 38 girls aged between 13 and 18 years who had contact with a range of agencies and organisations working with disadvantaged young people in the south of England.  Findings from this group were compared with the research into partner exploitation and violence from 2009 conducted by Barter et al. 

Findings about disadvantaged young people's experiences of physical violence

• Over half of the girls and just over a quarter of the boys reported that they had been a victim of physical violence in at least one of their relationships.

• Girls from disadvantaged backgrounds were almost twice as likely to have experienced physical partner violence compared to girls in the school study. 
• A quarter of the girls reported being instigators of physical violence in their relationships, similar to the level found in the school-based survey.
• Six boys (13%) stated they had used physical violence against their partners, again similar to the school-based survey.
• More girls in the disadvantage study, compared to the school study, viewed physical partner violence as a “common”, if unwanted, aspect of their relationships.

Findings about disadvantaged young people's experiences of emotional violence and control

• Two-thirds of the girls and a third of the boys reported experiencing emotional violence, most often controlling behaviour.
• Around half of the girls thought that control was common part of an intimate relationship.
• A quarter of both girls and boys reported instigating partner control in their relationships.

Findings about disadvantaged young people's experiences of sexual violence

• Half of the girls reported they had experienced some form of sexual violence. A quarter stated this involved physical sexual violence. 
• The disadvantaged girls were more likely to have experienced sexual violence than the girls in the school-based study.
• None of the girls reported using sexual violence.  Four boys said they may have pressured their girlfriends to have sex. 

Associated factors

• In both studies, more girls than boys experienced intimate violence, and girls reported much greater negative impacts on their welfare.
• Girls with older partners were more likely to report higher levels of all forms of violence than those with same-age partners, similar to the school-based study.

Vulnerable groups: young mothers

• One in three young mothers reported experiencing physical violence from their current partner.  Two thirds had experienced physical violence in at least one of their relationships.
• Two in three reported sexual pressure or force in at least one of their relationships.
• Nearly all had experienced controlling behaviour, often directly associated with their pregnancy and motherhood. Many stated that the control and violence increased once they were pregnant or when the baby was born.

Vulnerable groups: young people in care

• Girls in care were especially vulnerable to sexual violence from partners.
• Young people who had left care and were living alone were particularly vulnerable to violence in their relationships due to isolation from support networks.

Help-seeking behaviour

• Half the young people were known to have a social worker, although the majority had not told their social worker about the intimate violence.
• For a minority, talking to their social worker about their relationships was a positive and useful experience.

 The full report: ‘Standing on my own two feet:  Disadvantaged Teenagers, Intimate Partner Violence and Coercive Control’ is available here.

The media release for the report is available here.

Further media coverage from the BBC of the report is available here.  

A summary of Partner exploitation and violence in teenage intimate relationships (2009). Barter, C.; McCarry, M.; Berridge, D.; Evans, K. is available here.

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