Dating Violence: The Wheel

In an earlier post I shared the Violence and Control Wheel as it relates to Intimate Partner Violence.  I want to share with you another tool that will help parents understand dating violence a little better. This wheel is specific to adolescent and teenage girls and can help parents and guardians see how the cycle of abuse begins in a relationship.  Because teenagers don’t have the same rights in society as adults, ie. drinking until a certain age, they often see their choices for help as limited. Also the actions by a survivor of dating violence in the teen years can be limited by transportation, money, confidential health care etc.  Teenagers are often seen as irrational and immature so their feelings can be discarded easily by adults.  I strongly encourage you to review the attachment, in particular the second page, and see if you recognize any of the dialogue or behavior listed on it.  I myself know that in my teen years I fell into some of the categories and was at a high risk for further abuse because these signs were not recognized.

http://www.stjoesannarbor.org/documents/domesticviolence/TVdatingwheel.pdf