An exploratory investigation of adolescent intimate partner violence among African American youth: a gendered analysis.

Extant research demonstrates that while adolescent intimate partner violence (IPV) is an ever-growing concern in the United States, most research on IPV has focused on adult victims and offenders. To fill this gap in the literature, the present research examines youth IPV by conducting focus groups with 25 male and female youth between the ages of 15 and 19 years whose race was primarily African American. Drawing on open-ended responses by adolescent participants, the present study aimed to shed light on African American youths' perceptions of IPV, their perceptions regarding such violence among their peers, the dynamics of help-seeking behaviors, and what services youth perceive as most helpful in the prevention and intervention of adolescent IPV. Findings reveal that most participants only recognize physical aggression as IPV; express hesitation in disclosing violence to adults, especially nonfamily adults; and report being unaware of and/or unwilling to utilize existing prevention and intervention services traditionally targeted at adult populations. Implications for future research and policy are also presented and discussed.