Indirect Aggression Amongst Teenage Girls and How Parents Can Help (continued)

What To Do About It?

While there is a wealth of research on interventions for boys’ bullying, there is very little research on what might work specifically for girls’ indirect aggression. In our 2000 study, we asked girls about interventions by their schools. The girls indicated that use by schools of a top-down coercive approach resulted in cynical acquiescence by the offender(s) but the continuation of the harassment in an even more covert way.

On an optimistic note, peer helping processes seemed to have a greater chance of success. We have argued that because the causes of indirect aggression appear rooted in the peer group, then solutions that use the peer group may be the way to proceed (6). We found that while girls were subjected to more indirect victimization than boys, they used more constructive conflict resolution strategies (such as compromise) than boys (2). It seems then that girls use the same verbal and social skills to hurt their peers as they do to resolve their conflicts. Bearing these findings in mind, methods that may be particularly helpful in resolving girls’ conflicts in schools include humanistic approaches such as the method of shared concern (13) and a range of processes whereby students act as peer helpers, e.g., buddy programs, peer support, peer counseling, peer mediation (14). More recent research suggests that schools should do more work with bystanders and utilize restorative justice practices (14).

Advice for Parents To Deal With Indirect Aggression in Girls

Briefly, some ideas for parents to consider include:

• Watch for warning signs in your child, e.g., less interest in school, wanting to stay home from school, reduced school achievement, complaints of headaches or stomach aches, sleeping difficulties, unhappiness or irritability, few friends, non involvement in social activities with peers
• Encourage your child to talk and be prepared to listen and show that you understand your child’s distress
• Explore alternative courses of action with your child, e.g., making new friends, discussing the issue with the school counselor
• Depending on the seriousness of the bullying and the wishes of your child, you may decide to pursue the matter at your child’s school. If so, ensure that you adopt a positive attitude to work with the school to resolve the problem
• Follow up with the school to assess the outcomes of their actions.

For more details on these ideas for parents, see Rigby (14) and the Friendly Schools & Families resource kit (15).

Author Information:

Dr. Larry Owens is an Associate Professor and Associate Head in the School of Education at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. His research focuses on gender differences in aggressive behaviour, with particular interest in teenage girls' use of indirect forms of aggression.

References

1. Owens, L. D. (1996). Sticks and stones and sugar and spice: Girls' and boys' aggression in schools. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 6, 45-55.
2. Owens, L., Daly, A., & Slee, P. (2005). Sex and age differences in victimization and conflict resolution among adolescents in a South Australian school. Aggressive Behavior, 31 (1), 1-12.
3. Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. (2000). “Guess what I just heard!": Indirect aggression among teenage girls in Australia. Aggressive Behavior, 26, (1), 67-83.
4. Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. (2000a). “I’m in and you’re out ... “ Explanations for girls’ indirect aggression. Psychology, Evolution & Gender. 2 (1), 19-46.
5. Owens, L., Slee, & Shute, R. (2000). “It hurts a hell of a lot ... “ The effects of indirect aggression on teenage girls. School Psychology International, 21, (4), 359-376.
6. Owens, L., Slee, P., & Shute, P. (2001). Victimization among teenage girls. What can be done about indirect harassment. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized, (pp. 215-241). New York: Guilford.
7. Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. (2004). Girls’ aggressive behavior. The Prevention Researcher, 11, 3, pp. 9-10.
8. Bjorkqvist, K. (1994). Sex differences in physical, verbal, and indirect aggression: A review of recent research. Sex Roles. A Journal of Research, 30, 177-188
9. Galen, B. R., & Underwood, M. K. (1997). A developmental investigation of social aggression among children. Developmental Psychology, 33(4), 589-600.
10. Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710-722.
11. Bjorkqvist, K., & Niemela, P. (1992). Of mice and women: Aspects of female aggression. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
12. Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. Buckingham: Open University Press.
13. Pikas, A. (2002). New developments of shared concern method. School Psychology International, 23(3), 307–326.
14. Rigby, K. (2007) Bullying in schools - and what to do about it. Melbourne: ACER.
15. Friendly Schools & Families (2004). A parent’s guide to dealing with and preventing bullying. Child Health Promotion Research Unit, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.