title: Adapting dating violence prevention to francophone Switzerland: a story of intra-western cultural differences.
abstract: Dating violence prevention programs, which originated in the United States, are beginning to be implemented elsewhere. This article presents the first adaptation of a violence prevention program for a European culture, Francophone Switzerland. A U.S. dating violence prevention program, Safe Dates (Foshee & Langwick, 1994), was reviewed in 19 youth and 4 professional focus groups. The most fundamental program concepts--"dating" and "violence"--are not the same in Switzerland and the United States. Swiss youth were not very focused on establishing monogamous romantic relationships, and there is no ready translation for "dating." Violence has not become the focus of a social movement in Switzerland to the same extent that it has in the United States, and distinctions among terms such as "dating violence" and "domestic violence" are not well known. Psychoeducational approaches are also less common in the Swiss context. As the movement to prevent violence extends worldwide, these issues need greater consideration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, the University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA. sherry.hamby@sewanee.edu
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamby
authors.forename: Kaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nix
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Puy
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monnier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003380:Courtship / Q000523:psychology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013557:Switzerland; D014481:United States