Adolescents' experiences of domestic violence during the covid-19 pandemic (a qualitative phenomenological study)

Subject Areas : Islamic-Iranian Family Studies Journal

fariba sheikhsoveini ¹ , maryam gholamzadeh jofreh ² , Regar MohammadI ³

1 - Department of Counseling, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
2 - Department of Counseling, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.
3 - Department of Counseling, Sabashahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2023-11-11 Accepted : 2023-12-21 Published : 2023-10-23

Keywords: Physical violence, COVID-19, Qualitative study, adolescents, Verbal violence,

Abstract :

Introduction: Adolescence is one of the most vulnerable developmental periods. Purpose: This research aims to explain the general structure of the phenomenon of domestic violence during the covid-19 pandemic in the context of the family, to understand and understand the lived experience of adolescents in the covid-19 epidemic. Method: This research was conducted using a qualitative phenomenological method. The research community was made up of adolescents who were victims of domestic violence who referred to the counseling center located in Ahvaz city from 1399 to 1400. The data were collected by in-depth semi-structured interview and analyzed by Collaizi's method. Findings: Data analysis led to the formation of 4 main themes and 10 sub-themes. The main themes are "aggravating factors of domestic violence", "experienced forms of violence", "damages caused by domestic violence" and finally "Adolescents' reaction to violence". The results showed that the restrictions caused by Corona's imprisonment, non-attendance of education were factors that aggravated domestic violence in these era.The forms of violence experienced by the participants were verbal and physical. Raiding, scolding, teasing, humiliating, threatening, yelling were among the most frequent verbal violence experienced by adolescents. All the participants in this research experienced verbal violence and almost 40% of them experienced physical violence. Violence in all its forms has led to the physical and mental vulnerability of adolescents. Conclusion: Among the most important coping strategies used by the participants, we can refer to: taking refuge in religion and spirituality, seeking help from experts and looking for new hobbies.Extended AbstractIntroductionCrises and catastrophic events, including epidemics, have always been accompanied by an increase in interpersonal violence. In a situation where families are in quarantine and the economic crisis increases family stress, teenagers are more vulnerable to violence than ever .Experiences of violence during adolescence can have long-term harmful effects in adolescence and can have negative intergenerational effects, which emphasizes the need for special knowledge of adolescents about the epidemic .This research was conducted to answer the question of how teenagers experienced violence during the stressful time of the pandemic.MethodologyThis research is a type of qualitative study that was done by phenomenological method. The statistical population of this research was selected from all adolescents who experienced violence during this period. A total of 10 participant aged between 10 and 22 were interviewed. The samples were analyzed as deeply as possible through semi-structured interviews, and their interviews were analyzed using the seven-step Collaizi method, and concepts and codes were extracted.Results and discussionThe demographic characteristics of the samples are shown in the following table:table 1: demographic characteristics of the samplesAccording to the participants' experience, the findings of this research have provided a clear understanding of the aggravating factors of violence during the pandemic.The participants considered the closing of schools and the new and challenging experience of non-attendance education as one of the important factors that aggravate violence. The participants considered the most violence related to online education to be lack of concentration, boredom, lack of competition, loss of motivation to learn, lack of control over the use of phones and pornographic sites. Another factor aggravating violence that was extracted from the participants' data was related to house arrest due to the spread of Covid-19. The long-term presence of family members at home, the elimination of family and friendly entertainments and gatherings, becoming more sensitive to deficiencies and minor assaults, have greatly increased the level of aggression.LimitationsThe samples were from one city (Ahvaz) and maybe the results cannot be generalized to all adolescents of Iranian . Another limitation is related to the subject of the research, that due to the sensitivity of the issue of violence and shame caused by committing violence or being a victim of violence, more time was spent to build trust, this issue was more severe for sexual violence.AcknowledgementsI thank all the teenagers who shared their experiences.FundingThis research was related to the doctoral thesis and was carried out at personal expense. No financial aid was received in this regard.Ethics approval and consent to participateParticipants gave informed consent to participate in this research. Regarding the secrecy and confidentiality of the participants' information, they were assured at all stages of the research.Conflict interestsAccording to the authors, this article has no conflict of interest.