College Women’s Experiences of Dating Violence in Casual and Exclusive Relationships

Using a sample of female college students involved in a current dating relationship, we investigate the nature of violence
in these intimate relationships to better understand the concept of violence mutuality. To do so we explore womens’ experiences
with violence as both perpetrators and victims and examine the prevalence, chronicity, and severity of violence experienced
by young women. We also examine whether there are differences in experiences of violence for women in casual versus exclusive
dating relationships. Our findings suggest that when violence is present in a dating relationship it is likely to occur within
a mutually violent relationship where women are both victims and perpetrators of violence. More importantly, within these
mutually violent relationships, women reported being more likely to perpetrate violence at higher rates than they experience
as victims. We find no notable differences in experiences with violence among those in casual versus exclusive relationships.
The methodological limitations and policy implications of our findings are discussed.