Silence Hurts
Alcohol Abuse and Violence Against Women

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Assessing Acceptance of Couple Violence

This assessment measures acceptance of couple violence. It has three subscales: male on female violence, female on male violence, and acceptance of general dating violence. Respondents are asked to circle the answer that corresponds with their beliefs.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
1 A boy angry enough to hit his girlfriend must love her very much. 1 2 3 4
2 Violence between dating partners can improve the relationship. 1 2 3 4
3 Girls sometimes deserve to be hit by the boys they date. 1 2 3 4
4 A girl who makes her boyfriend jealous on purpose deserves to be hit. 1 2 3 4
5 Boys sometimes deserve to be hit by the girls they date. 1 2 3 4
6 A girl angry enough to hit her boyfriend must love him very much. 1 2 3 4
7 There are times when violence between dating partners is okay. 1 2 3 4
8 A boy who makes his girlfriend jealous on purpose deserves to be hit. 1 2 3 4
9 Sometimes violence is the only way to express your feelings. 1 2 3 4
10 Some couples must use violence to solve their problems. 1 2 3 4
11 Violence between dating partners is a personal matter and people should not interfere. 1 2 3 4

Scoring and Analysis

Point values are as indicated. Three subscales can be scored: Acceptance of Male on Female Violence subscale is based on items 1, 3, and 4; the Acceptance of Female on Male Violence subscale is based on items 5, 6, and 8; and the Acceptance of General Dating Violence subscale is based on items 2, 7, 9, 10, and 11.

Within each subscale, the score is calculated by summing the point values of the responses from a recipient. Alternatively, the score can be derived by summing the point values and dividing by the number of responses. A high score indicates a high level of acceptance of couple violence; a low score indicates a low level of acceptance.

Source:

Dahlberg, L.L., Toal, S.B., Behrens, C.B. (1998). Measuring violence-related attitudes, beliefs and behaviors among youth: A compendium of assessment tools, pg. 32-39. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/measure.htm

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