NCJ Number
214518
Date Published
2006
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the situational context of fights between girls, drawing on a broader qualitative study of violence in the lives of young African-American women.
Abstract
The authors focus their analysis on when and how gender matters in accounts of girl-on-girl violence. The findings suggest that the situational context and antecedents of female violence are complex and reflect both differences and similarities across gender. The authors note the tendency of the girls to devalue girl-on-girl violence as “silly,” indicating that the girls have internalized misogynist notions that devalue women. The most common triggers for girls’ conflict were: (1) rumors or “he say/she say;” (2) status challenges concerning style and reputation; and (3) boys. While these three triggers were discussed as the immediate causes of violence, the girls’ accounts of the conflicts included underlying factors such as the tenuous nature of girls’ friendships, the role of third parties, jealousies, and the desire to be known as “tough.” The authors address each of the three common triggers in turn, discussing how the triggers are rooted in issues of respect, perceived disrespect, and status hierarchies between girls. Many of these issues mirror the issues found among boys, yet two themes emerged as particularly gendered: fights over personal style and conflicts over boys and boyfriends. Data were drawn from a larger study of gender and violence in the lives of 35 young African-American women recruited in St. Louis, MO with the help of organizations serving at-risk and delinquent youth. Participants completed a survey and an audiotaped in-depth interview on the nature of girls’ violence, girls’ perception of female violence, general patterns of girl-on-girl conflicts, and the features and motives underlying specific arguments. Interview data were examined with the use of the grounded theory method. Notes