ABSTRACT
Using narratives with 20 female juvenile delinquents, this chapter applies an intersectional perspective to illustrate the complex context behind girls’ use of violence. It examines how girls’ experiences and interactions in various institutional and cultural settings (family, school, and justice system) create a foundation for pent-up aggression and assaultive encounters. This chapter also underscores events and transitions during the girls’ life courses that impact their status, choices, decision-making, conceptions of themselves, and trajectories toward violence. Finally, this chapter suggests policy and programming directions that can address the ethnic, racialized, classed, and gendered nature of girls’ violence.
