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Dating violence has, in recent times, been a social problem that has been creating different levels of concern especially among parents, and those in the academia, in Nigeria. Studies have shown causes to be largely due to personality types, but little relate it with violence between the parents of the perpetrator. This study examines the influence of violence between parents and the effect on dating violence among students in Nigerian Universities.

Questionnaires were administered to 460 students who had experienced violence in their dating relationship. The study had 55.7% of the respondents being females.

All of the respondents had experienced dating violence at one point or the other in their relationship. About 36.7% of the respondents reported to having been in dating relationship with a partner who had witnessed violence in the home. Data analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient indicate that the variables of parental conflict and dating violence were significantly positively correlated among the students.

The study was limited because it focuses on only one university, and research in the area of dating violence in Nigeria has not been extensively reported. The study therefore emphasizes the impact of socialization process on dating behavior of young adults in Nigeria as well as the need to have further studies on these dating patterns. This study will serve as addition to the gradually increasing literature on dating behavior of young adults in the Nigerian society.

The goal of this chapter is to examine (1) how children’s rapport with dating partners predicts mothers’ dating stability; (2) how characteristics of dating partners are associated with children’s problem behaviors; and (3) how mothers’ lingering attachment to the former spouse predicts relationship quality of dating relationships.

Data comes from a multimethod, multi-informant longitudinal study of postdivorce dating relationships (N = 319 mothers, n = 178 children, n = 153 dating partners). Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to test consequences of breakup of mothers’ dating relationships for children’s behaviors, children’s rapport with dating partners for mothers’ dating relationship stability, and mothers’ lingering attachment for quality of dating relationships.

We found that children’s rapport with dating partners was positively associated with dating breakup; more antisocial traits and drunkenness of mothers’ dating partners was positively associated with children’s problem behaviors at breakup; and lingering attachment was positively associated with poorer relationship quality with dating partners.

Because the focus of this chapter is divorced mothers with children, future studies are recommended to examine fathers’ postdivorce dating relationships. Future research should delineate dating, cohabiting, and remarried relationships after divorce.

This chapter presents empirical data examining the influence children have on mothers’ dating relationships, the influence of mothers’ dating relationships on children’s behaviors, and the effects of mothers’ lingering attachment to the former spouse on quality of mothers’ dating relationships. Information from this research is crucial for researchers and practitioners to assist mother’s and children’s postdivorce adjustment.

Rape culture, described as when “violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent” (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth, 1993, p. vii), exists online and offline (Henry & Powell, 2014). Much of the research on rape culture focuses on the experiences of heterosexual women, and few studies have explored rape culture in the context of dating apps. This chapter explores how men who have sex with men (MSM) understand and experience rape culture through their use of Grindr and similar dating apps. A thematic analysis of interviews with 25 MSM dating app users revealed problematic user behavior as well as unwanted sexual messages and images as common manifestations of rape culture on dating apps. Participants explained that rape culture extends beyond in-app interactions to in-person encounters, as evident by incidents of sexual violence that several participants had experienced and one participant had committed. Participants were unsure about the extent to which MSM dating apps facilitate rape culture but asserted that some apps enable rape culture more than others. This chapter demonstrates the importance of investigating sexual violence against people of diverse gender and sexual identities to ensure their experiences are not minimized, ignored, or rendered invisible.

This chapter explores courage as an emotionally involved form of action. The notion of courage is challenging as we have physical, psychological, moral and existential forms of courage but also because what engenders courageous actions is still somewhat of a puzzle within social science. Firstly, I introduce the main forms and explanations of courage. Secondly, dating is discussed to illustrate how courage is an important analytical category to understand people's actions. In dating persons often overcome their fear of being rejected. During the COVID-19 crisis, new insecurities and fears were added to the practice of dating which now could imply both fear of being infected and fear of moral condemnation by others who would consider dating a morally irresponsible behaviour. Thirdly, I discuss theoretical and methodological implications of a mini analysis of a story about active and direct dating interactions during the first lockdown period in Denmark during the COVID-19 crisis. Often courage is thought of as so extraordinary that it is not part of people's ordinary social life. But it is not. People do experience situations that call forth courage, which implies overcoming fear and insecurity in striving to realise goals more important than avoiding feeling such uncomfortable emotions – situations in which they cannot merely rely on routine and/or self-confidence and others' trust. Consequently, this chapter explains how and why courage is an important analytical category for the sociological enterprise. Finally, the conclusion offers some reflections concerning courage and dating in future neo-COVID predicaments and how courage can be studied methodologically speaking.

Purpose – To examine how youth appropriate and resist elements of the developmental discourse as they construct and enforce dating norms.

Methodology – In 2007, we conducted participant observation at a middle school summer camp for youth in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Youth ranged in age from 11 to 17 years old.

Findings – Youth borrowed the idea of a normative sequence of behaviors arranged by age from the developmental discourse to establish a set of age-appropriate dating norms for all campers, regardless of chronological age. Youth enforced these norms by treating other dating actions as too young or too old. By tying this linear trajectory to social age instead of chronological age, youth creatively altered the apparently rigid developmental discourse and established dating norms which addressed their own values and concerns. Youth established dating norms and maximized opportunities for pleasurable, collective discussions about dating and romantic relationships. Although the developmental discourse influenced the norms in this peer culture, we argue that the small, heterogeneous composition of the camp facilitated youths' ability to appropriate, refashion, and resist the developmental discourse.

Adolescence is a period of new experiences, including dating. Romantic relationships can be a source of stress; one-third of teens experience dating violence (Molidor & Tolman, 1998; Straus, 2004). Teens are also at a heightened risk for suicide; it is the third leading cause of death among teens (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2013a). Suicidal ideation, threats, and attempts occur within the context of a relationship where there is also dating violence (Chan, Straus, Brownridge, Tiwari, & Leung, 2008; Else, Goebert, Bell, Carlton, & Fukuda, 2009). Due to life course, adolescence may not have knowledge, experience, or skills to manage these situations. Furthermore, these experiences may shape romantic relationship expectations as adults. Both dating violence and suicidality have short- and long-term effects (for example, see Castellví et al., 2017; Coker et al., 2000; Exner-Cortens, Eckenrode, & Rothman, 2013; Holmes & Sher, 2013; Jouriles, Garrido, Rosenfield, & McDonald, 2009; Magdol et al., 1997; Zaha, Helm, Baker, & Hayes, 2013). However, little is known about how young women that experience teen dating violence and partner suicidality respond (except, see Baker, Helm, Bifulco, & Chung-Do, 2015). This study seeks to explore this gap.

As part of a larger study, 16 young women who had experienced a “bad dating relationship” as a teenager also disclosed that their boyfriends had threatened suicide. These young women completed in-depth, retrospective interviews to discuss their experiences. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using HyperResearch. Life course and grounded theory guided this research.

The young women that experienced suicidal threats by their dating partners were also victims of a range of abusive behaviors in their dating relationships, including verbal, physical, and sexual abuses and controlling behaviors. The young women struggled with how to deal with the suicidal ideation and the abuse concurrently. Some of the young women believed that the threats of suicide were real, and had concerns for their boyfriends’ well-being. Others believed that their boyfriend was using this as a manipulative tactic to get them the stay in the unhealthy relationship. This impacted how young women dealt with and reacted to the abuse, including if they chose to stay in the relationship or not.

This study provides narratives from young women in relationships where there is dating violence and threats of suicide, which adds to our understanding of the dynamics of how life course impacts both dating violence and suicide. The sample is small and not generalizable. Future research should include both partners to provide a more holistic picture of the relationship. Additional research should also examine any differences of experiences based on gender, race and ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation.

This has serious implications for prevention education and intervention. Policy-makers may want to consider: (1) mandating additional training for teachers and other adults that work with teens, in order to identify warning signs of both dating violence and suicidal ideation, (2) require education for teens on these topics, and (3) ensure evidenced-based interventions are accessible to teens dealing with these issues.

This paper provides a deeper understanding of teen experiences with suicidal threats and how they respond to them within the context of an abusive dating relationship. Policy-makers, advocates, school personnel, and youth may benefit from these findings, particularly in regard to developing appropriate prevention education and interventions.

In recent years, the use of dating and hook up apps has become an increasingly socially acceptable and commonly used method of seeking romantic and sexual partners. This has seen a corresponding rise in media and crime reports of sexual harms facilitated through these services, including sexual harassment, unsolicited sexual imagery, and sexual assault. Emerging empirical research shows that experiences of sexual harms in this context are common and predominantly impact women and girls. The aim of this chapter is to examine the sociocultural and sexual norms that underpin online dating and which perpetuate a “rape culture” within which sexual harms become both possible and normalized. This chapter also considers how the discourses that minimize and legitimize sexual harms are encoded within the responses undertaken by dating and hook up apps to sexual harms. It is argued that together these norms and discourses may act to facilitate and/or prevent sexual harms, and may normalize and excuse these harms when they occur.

Purpose: This chapter examines the resurgence of femininity among Euro-American women who do so under the guidance of a dating coach for success in heteronormative relationships. I set this analysis against Sheryl Sandberg’s concept of “leaning in” at the workplace and older strains of feminist theory in order to analyze, contextualize, and situate the dating group’s engagement with and resistance to feminist theory.

Methodology/Approach: My argument comes from a narrative and content analysis of the dating coach’s blog, public access forum, and data from following the group’s Facebook members-only group from January 2016 to January 2017.

Findings: Katarina Phang’s dating group both rejects and engages with feminist theory. It is very similar to the neoliberal vision of female embodiment in three key ways. The group’s techniques also reference older variants of feminist theory, specifically Virginia Woolf’s and second wave feminist proponents of “consciousness-raising.”

Research Implications: In a “postfeminist” period, researchers have reported a contradiction of a conception of feminism co-existing with a desire for a traditional heteronormative relationship. Phang’s dating philosophy fills and outlines this space neatly.

Social Implications: The cultural resurgence of femininity re-inscribes the gender binary and re-invokes polarized conceptions of gender within heteronormative relationships as well as re-invokes older variants of feminist theory.

Originality/Value: No such study of this dating group has been conducted, nor attention to the resurgence of femininity among Euro-American women with desire as the prime motivator.