Peer-reviewed article

The Relationship Between Sensitivity to Violence Against Children and Sense of Responsibility and Behavior in University Students

Arzu Özyürek, Meltem Kürtüncü, Esin Sezgin, Aylin Kurt · 1 Jan 2020

Abstract

Background: The rate of violence against children is high in our country as in the whole world. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the sensitivity to violence against children and their sense of responsibility and behavior in university students studying on health sciences. Methods: The sample of this study consisted of 657 students (454 females and 203 males) studying on health sciences. “Sensitivity to Violence Against Children Scale” and “Sense of Responsibility and Behavior Scale” were used for the data collection. One-way ANOVA, Mann Whitney U-Tests and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. Results: 27% of the students were studying medicine, 15.7% were dentistry, 42.5% were nursing, 53.4% were in first grade and 46.6% were in fourth grade, 36.1% were under 20 and 32.1% were is in the 23-25 age range. It was determined that female students' sensitivity to violence towards children, sense of responsibility and behavior were significantly higher than boys. It was determined that the sensitivity to violence against children was not affected by age and grade, and the sense of responsibility and behavior were higher in the fourth grade than in the first grade and the girls were higher than the boys. As the participants' sense of responsibility and behaviors increased, their sensitivity to violence against children increased. Conclusion: It can be said that women are more sensitive to violence against children and individuals with low sense of responsibility and behavior are insensitive to violence