Abstract #127  -  The theoretical framework for a school-based IPV intervention
Authors:   Presenting Author:   Prof Rachel Jewkes - Medical Research Council
Additional Authors:  Dr Alan Flisher, Dr Pam Cupp, Dr  Cathy Mathews, Dr Marcia Russell, Ms Anik Gevers, Ms Chantel LeFleur-Bellerose,
Aim: Submitted as part 1 of 4 of the symposium “Developing a School-Based IPV Prevention Program for South Africa”. Writing on the causation of intimate partner violence, Jewkes (2002) argues that there are two factors which in an epidemiological sense are underlying causes. These are the unequal position of women in a particular relationship (and in society) and the normative use of violence. While the details of ideologies of male superiority and their manifestations vary to some degree between different cultural settings, gender hierarchy is usually characterized by distinct gender roles, ideas of male sexual entitlement, low social value and power of women, and ideas of manhood that are linked to the control of women. Intimate partner violence both creates and enforces gender hierarchy, as well as punishes transgressions of this hierarchy and social position. Literature on the sexuality of young people has stressed the role of gender power differentials that prevent young women from negotiating safer sex practices (MacPhail & Campbell, 2001). In South Africa, researchers have documented strategies used by men to coerce women into sexual relationships, ranging in stages from strong persuasion to violence and ultimately rape (Wood & Jewkes, 2001; Wood et al in press a; Jewkes et al., 2003; Wood et al., 1998; Ackermann & De Klerk, 2002). In a series of studies among 8th and 11th graders attending a representative sample of state schools in Cape Town, Flisher and colleagues found that over 13% of the girls surveyed had been victims of attempted rape and 6% reported one or more completed rapes (King et al., 2004). In a study of intimate partner violence, defined more broadly as a self-reported history of ever hitting, kicking, slapping or punching a girlfriend (for boys) or a boyfriend (for girls), it was found that over 25% of Grade 11 students reported perpetrating intimate partner violence (Flisher et al., in press). In addition to the inherent problems related to violence, IPV contributes to unsafe sexual practices that increase the risk of HIV transmission among South African youth. Given the incidence of IPV and of HIV, developing a program to reduce said risks is of great importance. Since secondary school instruction offers the most efficient vehicle for intervention delivery for adolescents, we proposed to and were funded by the U.S. National Institute for Mental Health to develop a school-based IPV preventive intervention for youth in South Africa.
Method / Issue: This paper describes the theortical underpinnings of the school-based intimate partner violence intervention. The four abstracts of the symposium detail: 1) the theoretical framework used to frame the study; 2) the formative work with adolescents to better understand the problem from their eyes; 3) the selection and development of appropriate measures; and 4) the amalgamation of existing programs with new theory-based activities.
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