Perceptions of dating violence by undergraduate students at a South African university

Abstract

This study explored the perceptions of South African university undergraduate students regarding dating violence in their institution of higher learning. Snowball sampling was used to select eight undergraduate students for participation in the study (females = 62.5%, age range 20 to 24 and males 32.5%, age range 22 to 23). Participants responded to a semi-structured interview and thematic content analysis was used to analyse data. The emerged themes suggest knowledge regarding dating violence among the students to be high and perceived dating violence to be influenced by culture and peer-pressure. Findings suggest perceived unplanned consequences from dating violence like unplanned pregnancy and poor academic performance. The participants proposed strategies to prevent dating violence amongst students around building on self-confidence, awareness campaigns and counselling.