Yeardley Reynolds Love was an active twenty two year old approaching graduation from college until her dreadful death; she was a victim of partner abuse, otherwise known as dating abuse.
Yeardley Reynolds Love was a victim of partner abuse and was so kind that she refused to believe there was an evil side to the person she was in an off and on relationship with, she was the type of person that it would be difficult for even her friends to know she was being abused let alone an outside person such as a counselor. (Flaherty, Mary Pat; Johnson, Jenna, 2010). Without being around the couple or having a background history on George Huguely and his violent temper, no one would be able to instantly identify abuse even a well-trained counselor.
If a counselor had prior knowledge of George’s legal issues it would have given them the automatic response of George would be a potential abuser, in that his criminal history involving excessive use of alcohol and his violent jealousy rage towards his fellow teammates all indicate a person that is self-destructive and unconcerned for anyone around him. George fit the typical profile of an abuser given his criminal history within a three year time span of alcohol, anger and disrespect towards women, for instance the fact that he had no respect for an authority figure (female police officer) would definitely prove he was a ticking time bomb with his anger. (bostonherald.com, 2012).
If Yeardley had taken her family’s advice about getting a restraining order for George, no one would have believed her due to the fact that none of his run ins with the law were reported to the school and everyone knew of him as a “compassionate, loving, kind, considerate person.” (Dolak, K., 2012). Also the fact that Yeardley never showed any signs of concern for his behavior, nor she did ever speak of such with her close friends or fellow teammates, and the fact that she was such a caring and kind-hearted person she lived a life of denial when it came to her tumultuous relationship with George.
Counselors are trained to observe and detect any possible signs of abuse whether it’s emotional, physical, mental or verbal abuse. In this case the detection of abuse wasn’t as easily detectable in that, no abuse was ever reported to the university or the police by Yeardley or anyone else. George would have been quite a deceiving person when it comes to instantly noticing his dark side, he grew up with a “silver spoon in his mouth,” never having to worry about money or anything. He grew up with loving parents who gave him anything he wanted, he was very wealthy, never longed for anything, dated a lot of girls from high school throughout college, no signs of childhood abuse or his environment that he was raised in, all of which would be shocking to a person who never had contact with him, in this case would be a counselor.
The awful death of Yeardley Love will give counselors awareness to potential signs of future partner abuse, also known as dating abuse. (Flaherty, Mary Pat; Johnson, Jenna, 2010).
References
Dolak, K., (2012). Yeardley Love's Family Worried about George Huguely's Violent Past, article retrieved from; ABC Goodmorning America. http://abcnews.go.com/US/yeardley-loves-family-worried-george-huguelys-violent-past/story?id=17278322#.UZBqp7WG0g0
Flaherty, Mary Pat; Johnson, Jenna (May 4, 2010). "Lacrosse player George Huguely charged in fellow U-Va. student Yeardley Love's death". The Washington Post. p. A1.
"Friends: Accused ex-lacrosse player’s mood shifted". bostonherald.com. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
