ABSTRACT
Girls’ developmental pathways will vary, and while for some these are characterised by resilience and a rewarding life, for too many others, discriminatory sociocultural forces are contributing to much psychological distress in the adolescent years and beyond. The WHO has called for a gendered and human rights perspective to be applied to adolescent mental health, which implies that political activity is needed to challenge oppression. Feminist analysis helps to create a culturally-grounded understanding of the lives of adolescent girls in western societies today. It aids an appreciation of the contexts within which girls variously flourish, struggle or become overwhelmed. Clinical practice is restricted in how far it is able to address adolescent girls’ psychological problems if it only takes an individualist stance, as promoted by psychological science and by a social system that medicalises distress, within this postfeminist era. A feminist-informed social justice perspective opens up the possibility of alternative approaches.
