Violence among girls on the rise

[CShine]

While juvenile crime rates are down across the country, the gap is narrowing between boys -- who still commit the vast majority of violent offenses -- and girls, previously assumed to handle stress by withdrawing into depression.

In 2001, arrests for aggravated assault among girls were up 82 percent over 1987 levels, while for boys they rose 9 percent, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Washington mirrors this trend. Between 1995 and 2002, violent offenses accounted for steadily increasing rates of arrest among girls; meanwhile, boys' rates dropped almost every year.

"In our intake, they used to be all boys. Now it's about 50-50," said Elizabeth McCauley, interim director for children and adolescent psychiatry at Seattle's Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. "We are seeing more girls who are exhibiting their distress by being aggressive. I don't think we totally understand why."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/173133_girlfights13.html

[JohnOneillsMemory]

1. Television plus 'grrrl power' = sanctioned aggression=Zena and Buffy.

Sounds like the nature versus nurture equation is finally favoring the 'nurturance' of a highly violent and TV-saturated popular culture.

The military industrial complex needs the complicity and talents of both men and women.

Programs like 'Zena the Warrior' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' suggest that women may acquire power and control through violence just as men do.

Politically, we saw how comfortable Secretary of State Madelaine Albright was with killing Iraqis through the eugenics of sanctions. When a reporter asked if 500,000 civilian deaths was justified she said they were.

Pop culture is the most important way to get all 280 million Americans helping to conquer the world. The military call this tactic FORCE MAGNIFICATION.

That's my amatuer psychologist/sociologist/rodeo clown's analysis.

[ozone_man]

5. I'm not sure about Zena and Buffy.

I like strong roles for woman including physical roles. If this is part of reaching equality of the sexes, so be it. The larger context of the problem is that our society as a whole is a violent one, and militaristic, and we take it out on the rest of the world, on each other, etc. Equality is not the problem, it's our culture of violence and the greed and capitalism that fuels it.

[demdave]

6. Could you be more self-contradictory in your statement?

You like strong violent roles for women....so be it, and then the problem is our violent society? So is it only the violent males you don't like but violence among and between women is fine?

[ozone_man]

7. Violence is fine if there is a good reason for it.

Fighting a just war example. Or in the case of Buffy, fighting vampires. Our violence in Iraq, be it by males or females, is not OK.

[TrogL]

2. CBC radio is running a series on this issue

Last night they were talking about "psychological violence" - where gangs of girls use techniques like inviting a new girl to sit at their table, then everybody getting up and leaving to intimidate. In some cases it has lead to suicide.

It can be heard on CBC International on the "Ideas" series, on the CBC website.

[Thor_MN]

3. What's so bad? They need to be ready for the draft too, don't they?

Damn, I'm turning into grumpy old man because of *.

[mithnanthy]

4. This has been getting worse...

My husband is a popular local entertainer and we have been in the nightclub business for over 30 years. In the last 4 years, the young girls have become more violent than the men. They remind me of the young 15 year old boys I grew up with. I personally have been physically attacked TWICE in the last 3 years...unprovoked...one girl thought I was flirting with with her boyfriend, and after the attack, was horrified to find out her mistake, upon learning of who my husband and I are AND my age of 56. Another, more vicious attack was a young woman under the influence of crack and alcohol, singling me out, randomly, to show off her "prowess". After the cops let her go (she was a cutie), they received a call 15 minutes later from a nearby bar, where she ATTACKED ANOTHER woman...and was arrested by the cops who had let her get away with beating on me!( hahaha...that almost made it WORTH it!). BOTH of these women were young, beautiful, had very cocky attitudes, wanted attention and were under the influence of a multitude of drugs and booze. I'm intrigued by their culture but also, disappointed.