Self-perception of violence in intimate partner relationships among undergraduate social education students

This study analyzes the self-perception of violence suffered in intimate partner relationships, present and past, based on the assessment made by students of the degree of social education of Andalusian Public Universities. Specifically, the aim is to determine the objective experience of violent behaviors made by the students to check if it varies according to sex, university of origin and finally, to determine if this assessment is different according to sexual orientation. Through the application of the VIREPA questionnaire, 904 students of both sexes participated, of whom 83.4 % were women and 15.7 % men, with a mean age of 21.6 (SD = 0.14). The results show a high incidence of self-perceived partner violence in past relationships, where a quarter of the participants perceived themselves as victims of violence in that relationship and where men perceived more violence in the typology of Emotional Mistreatment, Personal Devaluation and Social and Economic Control and women in Physical and Psychological Mistreatment and Sexual Abuse. Regarding sexual orientation, the data indicate higher averages in heterosexual couples in each of the types of violence analyzed. This research awakens the interest of future Social Education professionals as a strategy to maintain an exhaustive knowledge of the patterns, risk factors and fundamental elements that make possible the creation of intervention strategies that can reduce and even eradicate the phenomenon.