In the last two decades, the nature of adolescent dating violence (ADV) within and between racial/ethnic groups has been given more attention in research, and some of the sociocultural reasons for variations in the development and prevalence of ADV have begun to emerge. This chapter presents a discussion of recent literature on ADV in the United States that focuses on the experiences of African American, Native American, and Hispanic American youth. Although a number of ADV processes are common across racial/ethnic subgroups, we outline some of the key risk and protective factors that are especially relevant for these minority groups. Throughout, we consider the importance of context and culture in contributing to findings, and we draw attention to the strengths of marginalized populations.
