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The Social Ecology of Resilience pp 157–169Cite as

Girls’ Violence: Criminality or Resilience?

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Abstract

This chapter examines girls’ violence and considers whether it is a risk factor or part of a strategy by some youth to sustain resilience. The authors show that violent behaviour by girls is “doubly condemned” as violence and an unfeminine expression of identity. Using narratives from girls themselves, the authors show that within gendered spaces that marginalise young women, violence can sometimes be a rational response that helps girls cope when there are limited choices.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The authors have papers in preparation that describe the range of behaviours, but there is no space to describe that here.

  2. 2.

    The Oxford dictionary definition of “ladette” is “a young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions” (http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ladette). This term is often used more informally to describe a girl or woman who demonstrates masculine traits or characteristics, or “laddish” behaviour.

  3. 3.

    More details about the study can be found at http://www.pcrrd.group.shef.ac.uk and Boeck, Fleming, Hine, and Kemshall (2006).

  4. 4.

    Pathways Into and Out of Crime: Risk, Resilience and Diversity, Grant No L330253001.

  5. 5.

    The “risk paradigm” underpins much youth justice policy in England and Wales (see for example Farrington, 1996; Youth Justice Board, 2005).

  6. 6.

    See footnote 1.

  7. 7.

    The names of all participants have been changed.

  8. 8.

    In the UK school system, Year 9 is normally young people aged 13–14.

  9. 9.

    Year 6 is the final year of primary school, so young people in this year are aged 10–11.

  10. 10.

    See footnote 1.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Jean Hine & Joanna Welford (Research Fellow)

Authors
  1. Jean Hine
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  2. Joanna Welford
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Correspondence to Jean Hine .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Coburg Road 6414, Halifax, B3H 2A7, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Michael Ungar

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Hine, J., Welford, J. (2012). Girls’ Violence: Criminality or Resilience?. In: Ungar, M. (eds) The Social Ecology of Resilience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0586-3_14

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