Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
The lived experience of girl-to-girl aggression in girls in a marginalized group
Pamela Adamshick, RN, PhD, APRN, BC, St. Luke's School of Nursing at Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: describe the meaning structures of girl-to-girl aggression in girls in a marginalized group, as identified through phenomenological research.
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| Learning Objective #2: discuss implications of phenomenological research findings for guiding nursing practice with girl-to-girl aggression in girls in a marginalized group.
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In the last decade, much literature has focused on the indirect aggression occurring within adolescent girls’ relationships, sometimes referred to as female bullying or relational aggression. Although girl-to-girl aggression is a global phenomenon, and has been studied in various countries, much of the research has lacked diversity in the study population. Typically, studies focused on mainstream, middle class girls, and neglected overt or physical aggression. The experiences of girl-to-girl aggression in diverse groups of girls who are out of the mainstream because of poor relationship skills and aggression are notably absent, yet this group may be the most at risk for escalating and/or persistent aggression. Using a phenomenological strategy of inquiry, this study describes the lived experience of girl-to-girl aggression in six adolescent girls from a marginalized group, attending an alternative school. The girls were interviewed using an unstructured interview, and were asked to respond to selected readings from popular literature on girl-to-girl aggression and relationships. Themes and core meaning structures of girl-to-girl aggression in this population of girls were identified using Van Manen’s methodology. The meaning structures are: attachment amidst risk, fighting as approach to friendship, protective response, and having friends and forming identity. The findings have implications for guiding nursing practice and research. This is the first study to identify girl-to-girl aggression as a path toward attachment and friendship. Nursing care needs to recognize the identity of girls in this population as fighters, and aggression as their way of protecting and holding on to relationships. Strategies include primary prevention to identify high-risk girls, mentoring programs using culturally congruent mentors, and emphasis on protective factors, friendship, and attachment through girls’ support groups.