Girls' Participation in School-Related Violence
Most, but certainly not all, aggressive acts in school, such as physical fighting, bullying, and weapon carrying, are carried out by males and aimed at males. One study reported that nearly 18 percent of boys but only 5 percent of girls carried a weapon to school (Flannery, 1997). However, another study showed that in schools characterized by large numbers of boys carrying weapons, there was a correspondingly high rate of girls carrying weapons (Webster, Gainer, and Champion, 1993).
Causes of Girls' Violence
In the 1970s, violent girls began receiving more attention from researchers because of the perceived increase in their offenses and because of the involvement of more female researchers. Much of the work focused on explaining why so few females participated in criminal activity compared with males rather than on what motivated females toward crime and delinquency.
Differing male and female crime rates were attributed to differences in biology and socialization, which presumably produced aggressive, independent males and passive, dependent females (Artz, 1998). The increase in female violence was attributed to the perpetrator's renunciation of stereotypically female characteristics and values in favor of the corresponding male characteristics and values. The women's movement, which fostered assertiveness and was said to encourage young women to adopt certain "male behaviors" (drinking, stealing, and fighting), was blamed as well (Adler, 1975). Subsequent research, including data showing that the increase in female crime was really not significant, discredited most of these findings (Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998).
Current research on adolescent violence and delinquency considers how social class, race, ethnicity, and culture interact to cause young women to behave violently (Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998). It also helps explain why girls join gangs, which is to develop skills to survive in their harsh communities and temporarily escape a dismal future (Campbell, 1991; Chesney-Lind, Shelden, and Joe, 1996).
Violent young women are more likely than their nonviolent counterparts to come from troubled or violent families. A home life characterized by poverty, divorce, parental death, abandonment, alcoholism, and frequent abuse leaves girls quick to anger, distrust, and exact revenge (Artz, 1998; Koroki and Chesney-Lind, 1985). Abuse seems to play an especially large role in shaping female criminal behavior: incarcerated women (40-70 percent of respondents in various surveys) are much more likely than incarcerated men to report previous sexual or physical abuse (Artz, 1998; Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998; Koroki and Chesney-Lind, 1985).
The ways in which social class, race, ethnicity, and culture interact to contribute to girls' violence can be complex. For example, girls from poor ethnic families may seek recognition by adopting a "bad girl" image upon finding that they will be unable to attend college or otherwise gain status through white middle-class means (that is, schooling and careers). At the same time, many of these girls also embrace traditional gender-specific expectations for the future: marriage, support by a man, a large family, and a stereotypically female job. Many think that men should be strong and assertive and women passive and nonviolent (Koroki and Chesney-Lind, 1985). Such beliefs may encourage young women to remain in abusive romantic relationships and raise their risk of engaging in delinquent and violent acts (Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998).
The culture and environment in which children are raised can also affect school performance. Failure in school increases young people's risk for engaging in violence and delinquency (Artz, 1998), but poor school performance appears to have a stronger effect on girls than on boys (Rankin, 1980). High grades and positive self-esteem seem to suppress girls' involvement in violence and delinquency. For boys, high grades raise self-esteem, which can lead to risk taking and greater delinquency (Heimer, 1995).
Implications for Interventions
To serve young women effectively, violence intervention programs must develop culturally sensitive, gender-specific approaches. They must take into account the fact that girls' problems are often gender related _that is, related to sexual abuse, male violence, their role in the family, occupational inequality, or early motherhood. Unfortunately, funding for programs that address the unique needs of delinquent girls has been low: in 1975, for example, only 25 percent of funds donated by corporations supported programs for girls (Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998). A recent review of youth programs showed that only 2.3 percent of delinquency programs specifically served girls.
The few existing programs that are effective with at-risk young women share certain elements, including educational and occupational support, a comprehensive counseling component that addresses their unique needs, and provisions for meeting the needs of women who are unable to remain with their families (Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998). Effective programs also provide young women with access to caring adults and organized community activities.
Finally, because male violence and aggression against young women are often factors in female delinquency and violence, separate intervention programs need to be developed for aggressive and violent men and boys. This would minimize the risk of female victimization and, in turn, reduce the risk of girls' participation in violence.
Source
Weiler, J. 1999. Girls and Violence. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 430 069.
References
Adler, F. 1975. Sisters in Crime. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Artz, S. 1998. Sex, Power, and the Violent School Girl. Toronto: Trifolium Books.
Campbell, A. 1991. The Girls in the Gang. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Chesney-Lind, M., and M. Brown. 1999. "Girls and Violence: An Overview." In D. J. Flannery and C. R. Huff, eds., Youth Violence: Prevention, Intervention, and Social Policy (pp. 171-199). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
Chesney-Lind, M., and R. G. Shelden. 1998. Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice. Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth.
Chesney-Lind, M., R. G. Shelden, and K. A. Joe. 1996. "Girls, Delinquency, and Gang Membership." In C. R. Huff, ed., Gangs in America (pp. 185-204). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Flannery, D. J. 1997. School Violence: Risk, Preventive Intervention, and Policy. Urban Diversity Series, no. 109. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 416 272.
Heimer, K. 1995. "Gender, Race, and Pathways to Delinquency." In J. Hagen and R. D. Peterson, eds., Crime and Inequality. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Koroki, J., and M. Chesney-Lind. 1985. Everything Just Going Down the Drain. Interviews with female delinquents in Hawaii. Report, no. 319. Honolulu, HI: Youth Development and Research Center; New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 273 696.
Rankin, J. H. 1980. "School Factors and Delinquency: Interaction by Age and Sex." Sociology and Social Research 64: 420-434.
Webster, D. W., P. S. Gainer, and H. R. Champion. 1993. "Weapon Carrying Among Inner-City Junior High School Students: Defensive Behavior Versus Aggressive Delinquency." American Journal of Public Health 83: 1604-1608.