TRAPPED: TECHNOLOGY AS A BARRIER TO LEAVING AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP.

A 42 item Internet questionnaire was completed by 259 undergraduates at a large southeastern university designed to assess the degree to which individuals involved in abusive relationships would report that technology in the form of text messages, email, and Facebook would impair their ability to te...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:College Student Journal Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 644 - 649
Main Authors: HALLIGAN, CAITLIN, KNOX, DAVID, BRINKLEY, JASON
Format: Article
Published: Project Innovation Austin LLC Winter2013
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:A 42 item Internet questionnaire was completed by 259 undergraduates at a large southeastern university designed to assess the degree to which individuals involved in abusive relationships would report that technology in the form of text messages, email, and Facebook would impair their ability to terminate the relationship. Almost sixty percent respondents (regardless of their demographic background or whether they were in an abusive relationship) reported frequent use of technology. However, respondents needing to leave an abusive relationship more frequently identified with those areas that would be perceived as a barrier (e.g. receiving text messages that called the respondent names). And, those who were "abuse prone" were more likely to stay in abusive relationships even though parents and friends disapproved. Implications and limitations are identified.