Home economics teachers' perceptions of preparation to teach domestic violence concepts

Violence in families is a serious societal problem. Experts believe that efforts to solve the problem must include a strong educational component. Home economics teachers can contribute to these efforts if they are prepared to incorporate relevant concepts in home economics classes. The major purpose of the study was to determine home economics teachers' perceptions of their preparation to teach domestic violence concepts. Other major objectives were to determine the importance placed on the concepts and the frequency with which teachers taught the concepts. A final aim was to determine the importance placed on the concepts by domestic violence professionals.;The Domestic Violence Education Questionnaire (DVEQ) was mailed to a random sample of 450 Texas home economics teachers. The 188 respondents represented a 42% return rate. The sample was all female and ranged in age from 20 to over 60. The DVEQ, which was developed by the researcher, consisted of 52 concepts related directly or indirectly to domestic violence. Concepts were clustered into six content categories. Respondents indicated on a 4-point Likert-type scale their perceptions of preparation to teach the concepts, the importance of each concept for inclusion in home economics courses, and how frequently they taught each concept. A slightly different version of the DVEQ was mailed to a sample of 60 domestic violence professionals. The 30 (50%) respondents indicated on a 4-point scale the importance they placed on each concept for inclusion in home economics courses.;The teachers felt most adequately prepared to teach those concepts traditionally associated with home economics content. They also viewed them as more important and taught them more frequently. This would indicate a need to educate the teachers in those areas in which they felt inadequately prepared, such as concepts directly related to domestic violence. The professionals saw the concepts directly related to domestic violence as most important. They placed most emphasis on concepts dealing with the immediate welfare of the victims of abuse. In general, teachers perceived the concepts to be more important for inclusion in home economics courses than did the professionals.