Citation

Sherer M. Youth Soc. 2010; 42(1): 132-150.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0044118X09351273

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to assess the attitudes toward dating violence among Jewish and Arab male and female adolescents in Israel. The random sample consisted of 1,357 participants from among 9th to 12th grade pupils enrolled in eight Arab and eight Jewish junior and senior high schools. The study assessed attitudes toward psychological dating violence, physical dating violence, and sexual dating violence. Although Israeli youths in general reported supportive attitudes toward dating violence, Jewish participants’ attitudes reflect lower endorsement of dating violence than Arab participants’. On all three dating violence measures, females reported less endorsement of dating violence than males. The discussion focuses on explanations for the differences between the two national groups and genders and presents the theoretical and practical implications of the study.