Noting that this problem affects as many as one-fourth of high-school and college-age youths, the text uses the actual experiences of parents and teenagers as well as the authors' professional experience as trainers, therapists, and program directors. Individual sections explain why adolescents may not confide in their parents about an abusive relationship, the signs that a relationship is abusive, and the causes and dynamics of abuse from the perspectives of both perpetrator and victim. Additional sections focus on the development of safety plans with the teenager to avoid a potentially dangerous situation, the use of legal resources for dealing with a batterer, sources of support for parents of homosexual teenagers in abusive relationships, and techniques for encouraging healthy adolescent relationships. Summary of myths and facts about teen dating violence, chapter reference notes, and index