Iranian Adolescents' Experiences of Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Study

Children, especially adolescents, are one of the main victims of domestic violence, who have received less attention despite their vulnerability to this social problem. This study was conducted to determine the adolescents' perspectives and experiences of domestic violence and parental disputes in order to improve our understanding of the various aspects of this social problem for planning the necessary measures to reduce it.

The present qualitative study was performed with a content analysis approach. The data were collected using semi-Structural interviews. The participants were students aged 12 to 16 years. Purposeful sampling with maximum variation in terms of socioeconomic status, age and gender was performed. In total, 33 interviews were conducted by two interviewers.

A total of 4 categories, 11 subcategories and 120 themes were extracted as the adolescents' experiences. By summarizing and combining similar themes, the main categories included adolescents' psychological reactions and activities at home and in the school, domestic violence outcomes and cause of violence. The most important cause of violence was socio-economic status of the family, especially father's unemployment. Adolescents who had experienced domestic violence had higher tendencies toward high-risk behavior and academic failure.    

According to adolescents' views, socio-economic factors play an important role in the occurrence of domestic violence and can lead to unpleasant social experiences and social harms in their future lives. Therefore, it is necessary for parents, teachers, and policy makers to adopt effective measured to reduce this social problem.