Female Relational Aggression:

"Girls are still in the thick of Girl World - where people won't tell you why they're mad at you, friends tease you and then dismiss your feelings with "Just Kidding!," and everyone texts and instant messages every rumor and embarrassing photograph about you" (Wiseman, 2002).

What is female relational aggression?

What is female relational aggression?

Also called female bullying, Relational aggression (RA) "is the use of relationships... to hurt another" (Dellasega & Nixon, 2003).

What constitutes as relational aggression?

• Rumors
• Name calling
• Cliques
• Shunning
• Psychological forms of behavior such as Social exclusion

How does female bullying differ from "Normal" Bullying?

According to Dan Olweus (2002), Bullying is defined By 3 sets of Criteria

• "It is aggressive behavior or intentional 'harmdoing'
• Which is carried out repeatedly and over time
• In an interpersonal relationship characterized by an imbalance of power"

A 2002 study done by Smith et al asked several students and teachers how they define bullying...

They found that in English speaking countries, the term bullying is more directly associated with "physical and verbal bullying" and was only moderately associated with social exclusion.

Some stated that the "psychological forms of behavior such as social exclusion" (Smith et al, 2002) were not always believed to be bullying.

"Less than 50% of teachers and only one in five pupils... defined psychological or emotional abuse as bullying" (Smith et al., 2002)

"Bullying among females, unlike boy bullying is more difficult to study in that it is not easily identified because it is not physical and, therefore, more difficult to see" (SooHoo, 2009).

In order to reduce female relational aggression,

Ways of coping with psychological bullying can range from

• Attendance problems (SooHoo, 2009)
• School Transfers (SooHoo, 2009)
• Depression (Sullivan, Cleary & Sullivan, 2004)
• And even Bullycide (Sullvian, Cleary & Sullivan, 2004)

Bullycide:

Relational Aggression can also pose life-long problems for females, such as eating disorders and the inability to form supportive relationships with others.

With all of the anti-bullying curriculum in place in schools and general society, why is it that this type of relational aggression and psychological abuse continues to occur in schools?

"Many believe bullying is normal and intrinsic to the process of developing friendships, and view bullying as a rite of passage" (SooHoo, 2009)

SooHoo also stresses the importance of positive female role models.

"Girls lack role models and allies who will challenge the tyranny of girl bullying and propose a different social order; one that build on the girls' sense of inclusion and community building" (SooHoo, 2009).

"Role models for today's teens are not powerful women who have succeeded because of their persistence and kindness to others..." (Dellasega & Nixon, 2003).

What steps need to be taken

Psychologist Mary Pipher suggests that society needs to "work together to build a culture that is less complicated and more nurturing, less violent and sexualized, and more growth producing" (Pipher, 1994).

How does a culture like this Develop?

We must help young girls feel more confident about themselves: their bodies, their minds, and their abilities. Programs that teach girls how to lift each other up, with out tearing each other down must be implemented in our schools and homes.

Teach "Confident Kindness"

"Confident Kindness" is the idea of caring and supporting others, but knowing that "it is only meaningful if it comes from an inner sense of security and self esteem" (Dellasega & Nixon, 2003).

Encouraging girls to be comfortable in their own skin is imperative, since "Girls (like all of us) absorb the cultural messages of what a girl should wear and own, and how she should conduct herself" (Wiseman, 2002).

How can Teachers Prevent RA?

SooHoo states that "one way for teachers to observe the frequency and severity of girl-to-girl bullying on the school campus is to develop an internal antennae for such occurrences" (2009).

Accessibility to students is also important. "Keeping an Open Door Policy during lunch or before and after school is a signal to students that teachers are possible resources to help them through troubled times. Topics that are typically "off-limits" in the classroom can be discussed by having lunch with students" (SooHoo, 2009).

Organizations such as The ophelia Project also have resources for teachers, as well as free downloadable lesson plans.

The Ophelia Project "focuses on long-term cultural change which can be achieved by standing up against destructive social norms that perpetuate the cycle of covert aggression in children, youth and adults" (Ophelia Project, 2008 as cited in SooHoo, 2009).

Simply discussing bullying and RA with students is also favored, as students might be more willing to share their own problems when they hear what others are going through.

"It is imperative that we drag the hidden curriculum of bullying out of the dark corners of the school and expose it to an enlightened community that strives to cultivate human dignity and respect" (SooHoo, 2009).