Research & Evaluation of Discovery Dating

Discovery Dating Research

Wise Women Gathering Place was proud to be published in the Journal of Family Social Work in 2012, titled Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention in a Rural Native American Community, the article chronicles the use of Discovery Dating to reduce teenage pregnancies during the C-BAC Project. For more information on this publication, click here. 

 

In 2017, a second research article was published in Social Work, Volume 62, Issue 3, July 2017, pages 251–258. The study suggests Discovery Dating, a healthy relationships curriculum, is one way of preventing teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, and sexual assault. The resilience, self-efficacy, and personal agency outcomes of seventh grade students in a U.S. tribal middle school during the 2011–2012 school year who received the Discovery Dating curriculum were investigated through pre- and posttest analysis and compared with the outcomes of an eighth grade comparison group that did not receive the Discovery Dating curriculum. Findings suggest that Discovery Dating affects Native American middle school students’ sense of personal agency. Click to access this publication on the Oxford Academic website.   


The DELTA Project

Our DELTA Statewide Partners
Our DELTA Statewide Partners

From 2002-2011, much Discovery Dating work was funded through a collaboration of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WCADV) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA) grant.

 

The DELTA evaluation report focuses on implementation with middle school students at a Tribal elementary school in Wisconsin. Our information was gathered through pre- and post- surveys about Discovery Dating students’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The report reveals a positive increase in personal agency and healthy relationships norms.  To review the evaluation report from the Discovery Dating DELTA Project, click here. 


The C-BAC Project

The Community-Based Abstinence Program (C-BAC) was presented a Tribal School for 5 years for the students in the eighth grade. Those students were aged 12 to 19 at the time of this report. The C-BAC program did not teach contraception methods.

 

The C-BAC program taught the students lessons on how to set goals, how to discern the character of themselves and others, how to determine their own personal values and healthy relationship building skills. We also gave the students experience opportunities to practice these skills.

 

WWGP conducted a survey at Oneida Nation High School in November 2007. 76 students responded to the survey: 55 C-BAC and 21 non C-BAC. We believe that the results that we have from the High School survey reflect a difference for the students who had the C-BAC Class when compared to the results from the Non-C-BAC respondents. The C-BAC Key Findings Report outlines some of the key findings of the survey, and may be viewed here.