ABSTRACT
Although a rich research base informs the field of childhood aggression, few studies have focused specifically on the development and treatment of girls’ aggression. Treatments that were primarily developed for and evaluated with boys have been applied to girls (Brestan & Eyberg, 1998). This lack of scientific and clinical attention to the precise nature of girls’ aggressionn has been explained in terms of low prevalence rates (Offord, Boyle, & Racine, 1991; Steiner & Dunne, 1997) and assumptions about the greater societal burden associated with the antisocial consequences for boys (Robins, 1986). Yet there are indications that girls with an early aggressive history are prone to experience major problems over the lifespan. These problems are both similar to and different from those encountered by boys (Robins, 1986). For example, childhood aggression is linked to poor school motivation, premature school leaving (Pulkinnen, 1992), and drug use (Cairns & Cairns, 1994) in both boys and girls. For girls, truancy and running away are particularly problematic issues (Schlossmann & Cairns, 1993) as are the cluster of gender-specific problems associated with sexual development (Caspi, Lynam, Moffitt, & Silva, 1993), early sexual activity (Lenssen, Doreleijers, Van Dijk, & Hartman, 2000; Ray & English, 1995), and teen pregnancy (Quinton, Pickles, Maughan, & Rutter, 1993; Schlossman & Cairns, 1993). There may also be intergenerational links, in that an early aggressive history is associated with girls having offspring who exhibit early signs of behavior and health problems (Serbin, Moskowitz, Schwartzman, & Ledingham, 1991). Although the negative trajectories of aggressive and antisocial girls and boys are equally concerning, it is girlhood aggression that has yet to be investigated. As one step toward constructing a foundation for understanding girl-hood aggression, we embarked on a qualitative inquiry to uncover prominent themes by eliciting the views of clinic-referred girls and their parents. Their narratives, as suggested in the following quote, 1 proved to be powerful and rich sources of information.
Mother 12
My daughter is a wonderful child … it’s crazy ’cause everywhere when she meets kids and other parents, they love her. But sometimes you think nobody would ever believe that there’s this demon on the other side. She will, you know, just run at me, clawing, yelling, screaming “you fucking bitch,” “you stupid *racist name.*” Whatever. Like everything, the works. She just calls her dad and says “you asshole,” like constantly. So, yeah, I’m very concerned about her anger, she erupts, the volatility, the intensity of her anger when she lets loose.
