Code of the Street and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization

• In Event: Victimization in Context: Community and Cultural Factors

Abstract

It has been over two decades since Anderson introduced his “code of the street” hypothesis. Briefly, code of the street is a set of values that governs how one is to react when being disrespected. While studies testing the core propositions of the theory have generally supported a relationship between “code of the street” and various forms of violent and non-violent behaviors, including victimization, the theory has not been applied to explain intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization among college students. Recently, scholars have maintained that code of the street may extend beyond the inner cities and may be applicable in explaining violent behavior by college students. Using the United States subsample of the International Dating Violence Study, results showed that code of the street is associated with IPV perpetration and victimization. Further results, as well as the study’s limitations, are discussed.

Authors

• Egbert Zavala, University of Texas at El Paso

• Caitlyn Muniz, University of Texas at El Paso