A call to action for new perspectives & interventions for supporting girls that aggress

1. A call to action for new perspectives & interventions for supporting girls that aggress Heather Graham Intern for the San Francisco Mental Health Board MSW, PPSC Candidate, 2012 UC Berkeley

2. Increase in Violence or Harsher Policing? • During the past 25 years, arrests of girls has increased nationwide, by 30% while arrests of boys decreased (Flores, 2008) • Criminal acts or self-defense? • School to prison pipeline & Zero Tolerance

3. Increase in Violence? Cont. • Girls report a decrease in fighting even as arrests for assault and robbery increased (Chesney-Lind, Morash,& Irwin, 2007) • Arrest statistics more startling for African American girls. • In 2008, the arrest rate in California: • 49 per 1,000 for AA girls • 9 per 1,000 for white girls • 15 per 1,000 for Latinas (According to MedaChesney-Lind, University of Hawaii as quoted in Pfeffer, 2010)

4. The Hype • The media sensationalizes girls fighting • Archetypes: “Mean” girls and “bad” girls • Overblown representation has led to higher suspension and arrest rates (Brown et al, 2007)

5. San Francisco’s Shame • Media, police, interest groups created hysteria over girl “gangs” • In 2007, 13% of girl population were AA yet 70% of incarcerated girls were AA • AA girls 15 times more likely to be arrested for drugs in SF than AA in any other county in CA (Males, 2010, p. 14)

6. Defining Aggression • Physical aggression: • fighting • hitting • assaulting • Ranges from minor to criminal offenses

7. Defining Aggression Cont. • Non-physical or “relational aggression” • rumors • talking behind one another’s back • ostracizing • verbal bullying • taunting • verbal & emotional abuse

8. Relational Aggression Cont. • Girls feel frustrated, sad, and isolated • Can lead to physical aggression • A certain amount is normative for boys and girls

9. Understanding Aggressive Girls • Recent studies show gender matters • Why girls aggress? • lack of connectedness to peers* • history of abuse or trauma* • family/attachment issues • living in poverty • violent neighborhood or home environment

10. Understanding Aggressive Girls Cont. • feeling unsuccessful at school • low self-esteem • lack of opportunities • feeling powerless • social perception of women’s roles & expectations

11. Relational Theory • Founded by Jean Baker Miller & colleagues in the 1970s • Traditional thought: children transition from a dependent state to an independent adult • Girls shape self-identity through: • connections • relationships • interdependence (as cited by Bloom & Covington, 2001)

12. The Unique Female Pathway

13. Longing for Connection • Majority of offenders report there is no one they trust or can go to • Girls report fighting other girls as a way to connect

14. History of Abuse • Girls are 3 times more likely to have been sexually abused than boys (Hipwell & Loeber, 2006) • 20% of violent girls were physically abused 10% of violent males 6.3% of non-violent girls (Chesney-Lind, 2004, p.2)

15. The Effects of Trauma on the Brain • Trauma hinders executive functioning • can increase the likelihood of impulsivity • Effects interpretation of social cues or the intentions of others • The altered neural system leads to chronic state of fear-related activation • Increased focus on threat-related cues (Perry, B., Pollard, R., Blakley, T., Baker W., Vigilante, D., 1995)

16. History of abuse and trauma= • shame & low self-esteem= • internalizing or externalizing behaviors • Cycle: victims = aggressors (Farrell, Henry, Schoeny, Bettencourt, & Tolan, 2010)

17. Life Context • Living in poverty, fighting for survival • Desensitized • Many are surrounded by violence (home, neighborhood) • Studies show that many girls learn their violent behavior from their mothers • 60% of 51 incarcerated girls witnessed more than1 shooting or stabbing by age 13 (Ryder, 2010, p.140)

18. Current Social Conditions Girls may fight one another… • To find an avenue to power, respect, and acknowledgement, especially for girls living in poverty or girls of color • Because it’s safer than fighting an abusive partner or family members • To release fears, anxieties, and anger

19. Implications Aggressive girls have an increased likelihood of… • Incarceration/Recidivism • Sexual risk taking • Contracting STIs • Unwanted pregnancy/teen pregnancy • School failure • Mental health issues • Substance use • Becoming an aggressive mother

20. Interventions & Outcomes • Focus on healing rather than punishment

21. Lack of Evidence-based interventions • No studies could be found on interventions for girl-to-girl aggression!

22. Gender-responsive Services • “Creating an environment through site selection, staff selection, program development, content, and material that reflects an understanding of the realities of women's lives, and is responsive to the issues of the clients” (Covington, 2001, p.85)

23. Gender-responsive Services Cont. • Equal attention and high-quality services • Different life experiences that need to be taken into account

24. Therapy • Individual, family, and group family therapy • Involving the family is important (especially the mother) • Treating the trauma • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy • Multi-systemic Therapy

25. Therapy Cont. • Group therapy • positive way to connect with peers (gender-responsive/relational theory) • find new ways of feeling, behaving, and reacting to others • Techniques that help girls: • identify internal feelings • differentiate among states of arousal • navigate safe expression of emotions • learn how to self-soothe • increase social competence

26. Recommendations • Education around healthy relationships • Social skills training for families & individuals • Peer Education Programs • Mentorships • Empowerment & employment opportunities

27. Additional Recommendations • Intervening early-identifying high risk children and families early • Prevention • Comprehensive multi-level intervention • Wraparound services • Integrate treatment in multiple settings (home, school, community, peer group)

28. Recommendations Cont. • Staff: • trauma-informed • reflect the gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and language of girls • Girls need to feel: • Safe • Supported • Listened to • Empowered

29. Do We Know Which Interventions are Effective? • Interventions that work for boys don’t work for girls! • Experts contend more research on the unique female pathway is needed • Most interventions studied didn’t report on treatment effects by gender or include sufficient numbers of females • More research is needed!

30. Call to Action • Treatment and services should be “based on girls’ competencies and strengths and promote self-reliance” (Bloom & Covington, 2001) • Societal, media, & policy shift away from sensationalizing to strengths & tackling underlying issues: Racism, Sexism, Poverty

31. References Bloom, B. & Covington, S. (2001). Effective gender-responsive interventions in juvenile justice:addressing the lives of delinquent girls. Paper presented at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology Atlanta, Georgia, November 7-10, 2001. Brown, L.M., Chesney-Lind M., & Stein N. (2007). Patriarchy matters: toward a gendered theory of teen violence and victimization. Violence Against Women, 13. doi: 10.1177/1077801207310430 Chesney-Lind, M. (2004). Girls and violence: Is the gender gap closing? Harrisburg, PA: VAWnet, a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence/ Pennsylvania CoalitionAgainstDomesticViolence. Retrieved 3/10/2011 from: http://www.vawnet.org Chesney-Lind, M., Morash, M., & Irwin, K. (2007). Policing girlhood? Relational aggression and violence prevention. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, (5)3. .

32. References Farrell, A., Henry, D.B., Schoeny, M.E., Bettencourt, A. Tolan, P.H. (2010). Normative beliefs and self-efficacy for nonviolence as moderators of peer, school, and parental risk factors for aggression in early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39(6). Flores, R. J. (2008). Girls Study Group, Understanding and Responding to Girls Delinquency. U.S. Department of Justice Programs.http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp Hipwell, A., & Loeber, R. (2006). Do we know what interventions are effective for disruptive and delinquent girls? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 9 (3-4). Males, M. (2010). Have “girls gone wild”? In M.Chesney-Lind & N. Jones (Eds.), Fighting for girls: new perspectives on gender and violence (p. 129-143). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press

33. References Pepler, D, Madsen, K, Webster, & Levene, K. (2004). The Development and Treatment of Girlhood Aggression.Mahwah, New Jersy: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Publishers. Perry, B., Pollard, R., Blakley, T., Baker W., Vigilante, D. (1995). Childhood trauma, the neurobiology of adaptation and “use-development” development of the brain: How “states” become “traits.”Infant Mental Health Journal, 16(4). Pfeffer, R. (2011, March 15). In Post Racial America Prisons Feast on Black Girls. New America Media. Retrieved April 6, 2011, from http://ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org/2011/03/in-post-racial- america-prisons-feast-on-black-girls-1.php

34. References Ryder, J. (2010). “I don’t know if you consider that violence…” using attachment theory to understand girls’ perspectives on violence. In M. Chesney-Lind & N. Jones (Eds.), Fighting for girls: new perspectives on gender and violence (p. 129-143). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. Tourigny, M., Hébert, M., Daigneault, I., & A.C., Simoneau (2005). Efficacy of Group Therapy for Sexually Abused Adolescent Girls. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse,14(4), p.71 — 93.