Descriptive Title

Running head: RELATIONAL AGGRESSION

Relational Aggression in Adolescent Teen Girls

Stephanie Brooks

Delta State University

CED 606: Consultations and Collaborations

Mr. John Hawkins

July 27, 2009

Introduction

      Female adolescent violence is on the rise and it is becoming increasingly seen within our homes, schools, and communities. Aggression in girls is a problem that is gaining amplified interest. The forms of relational aggression historically used by girls to harm their victims have progressed more into physical altercations. An understanding of the relationship between the developmental and background factors that contribute to learned behaviors in girls is needed to enlighten program to respond to the gender socialization of girls. This article examines parental, environmental, and peer factors for their contributions to the development of girls aggression. This article described ways for program development to teach these girls and their families other ways of expressing their needs and protecting themselves from harm. The article places emphasis on the parents, environment, and the peers’ for the aggression that these girls are possessing. This article is helpful because it explains the problem that is gaining increased attention. According to the author some forms of aggression in girls are yelling, teasing, and insulting and they are not as physical as the males. The article also explained that the girl physical fighting is becoming familiar and is seen more regularly. This article went into details explaining why girls act the way they do. According to this journal there are many answers to this question. Girl aggression can sometimes be harmful to the people who they care about more than to strangers according to the author. Girls learn from modeling the behaviors of caretakers to develop an interest in and attention to the other person (Letendre, 2007).

      Girls tend to mimic the behaviors of other women in their...