CYC-Net

CYC-Net on Facebook CYC-Net on Twitter Search CYC-Net

Join Our Mailing List

Quote

Just a short piece ...

29 MAY 2009

NO 1442

Female aggression

It was once believed that female aggression did not warrant academic investigation due to its rare occurrence (Buss, 1961). The study of aggression and social relationships among females has also been neglected due to a predilection among researchers to study behaviours among males. Although rates of violent crime among youth have decreased from 29,181 in 1994 to 26,315 in 1998, female adolescent crime rates for violent offences have increased at twice the rate when compared to adolescent boys over the past decade (Reitsma-Street, 2004; Statistics Canada, 1999).

Indeed, estimating rates of aggression among females and males can be complicated by defining what is considered aggressive behaviour. Research suggests mixed conclusions with respect to the incidence rates of aggression when gender is included in the equation. According to Strayer and Noel (1986), noted differences between the sexes may be somewhat misleading as they fail to acknowledge the greater tendency for rough and tumble play among boys. Traditional beliefs that girls live in a world of "sugar and spice" have faded as research has shown that girls do engage in social forms of aggression. From preschool through adolescence, peer relations for females entail a covert world of exclusion, gossip, and relational attacks (Björkqvist et al., 1992; Crick, Bigbee, and Howes, 1996; Crick, Casas, and Mosher, 1997; Crick, Casas, and Ku, 1999) with significant increases during late childhood and early adolescence (Lagerspetz and Björkqvist, 1994; Leschied, Cummings, Van Brunschot, Cunningham, and Saunders, 2001).

The aggressive behaviour dynamics that tend to be common among females have been referred to as indirect aggression (Feshbach, 1969; Björkqvist et al., 1992), relational aggression (Crick and Nelson, 2002), and social aggression (Cairns, Cairns, Neckerman, Ferguson, and Gariepy, 1989; Galen and Underwood, 1997; Underwood, 2003). Throughout this paper, reference to aggression within female friendship groups will include definitions provided by all three bodies of research for indirect, relational, and social aggression; however, the term social aggression will be used in order to maintain parsimony.

JENNIFER CLARKE AND SUSAN LOLLIS

Clarke, J. and Lollis, S. (2007). Sugar and spice and all things not-so-nice: Aggression within early adolescent female friendships. Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 20, 1. pp.12-24.

REFERENCES

Björkqvist, K., Lagerspetz, K. M. J., Kaukianinen, A. (1992). Do girls manipulate and boys fight? Developmental trends in regard to direct and indirect aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 18. pp. 117-127.

Buss, A. H. (1961). The psychology of aggression. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Cairns, R. B., Cairns, B. D, Neckerman, H. J., Ferguson, L. L. and Gariepy, J-L. (1989). Growth and aggression: 1. Childhood to early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 25, 2. pp. 320-330.

Crick, N. R., Bigbee, M. A. and Howes, C. (1996). Gender differences in children's normative beliefs about aggression: How do I hurt thee? Let me count the ways. Child Development, 67. pp. 1003-1014.

Crick, N. R., Casas, J. F. and Mosher, M. (1997). Relational and overt aggression in preschool. Developmental Psychology, 33, 4. pp. 579-588.

Crick, N. R., Casas, J. F. and Ku, H-C. (1999). Relational and physical forms of peer victimization in preschool. Developmental Psychology, 35, 2. pp. 376-385.

Crick, N. R. and Nelson, D. A. (2002). Relational and physical victimization within friendships: Nobody told me there' d be friends like these. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 6. pp. 599-607.

Feshbach, N. D. (1969). Sex differences in children's models of aggressive responses toward outsiders. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 15. pp. 249-258.

Galen, B. R. andUnderwood, M. K. (1997). A developmental investigation of social aggression among children. Developmental Psychology, 33, 4. pp. 589-600.

Lagerspetz, K. M. J. and Björkqvist, K. (1994). Indirect aggression in boys and girls. In L. R. Huesmann (Ed.), Aggressive Behavior: Current perspectives (pp. 131-150). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Leschied, A.W.; Cummings, A.L.; Van Brunschot, M.; Cunningham, A. and Saunders, A. (2001). Aggression in adolescent girls: Implication for policy, prevention, and treatment. Canadian Psychology, 42, 3. pp. 200-215.

Reitsma-Street, M. (2004). Radical pragmatism: Prevention and intervention with girls in conflict with the law. In M.L. Hoskins and S. Artz (Eds.), Working relationally with girls (pp. 119-137). Binghamton, New York: Haworth Press.

Statistics Canada. (July 21, 1999). Youth justice statistics. The Daily. Ottawa, ON: Author.

Strayer, F. F. and Noel, J. M. (1986). The prosocial and antisocial functions of preschool aggression: An ethological study of triadic conflict among young children. In C. Zahn-Waxler, E. M. Cummings and R. Iannotti (Eds.), Altruism and Aggression: Biological and social origins (pp. 107-131). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Underwood, M. K. (2003). Social aggression among girls. New York: Guilford Press.

The International Child and Youth Care Network
THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK (CYC-Net)

Registered Public Benefit Organisation in the Republic of South Africa (PBO 930015296)
Incorporated as a Not-for-Profit in Canada: Corporation Number 1284643-8

P.O. Box 23199, Claremont 7735, Cape Town, South Africa | P.O. Box 21464, MacDonald Drive, St. John's, NL A1A 5G6, Canada

Board of Governors | Constitution | Funding | Site Content and Usage | Advertising | Privacy Policy | Contact us

iOS App Android App