The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #66819

Beth E. Molnar, ScD, Dept. of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, SPH-3, Boston, MA 02115, (617)432-2433, bmolnar@hsph.harvard.edu, Andrea Roberts, PhD, Department of Maternal & Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, SPH-3, Boston, MA 02115, Angela Browne, PhD, Harvard Injury and Control Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02115, and Stephen L. Buka, ScD, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, SPH-3, Boston, MA 02115.

Purpose: Arrests of adolescent girls for violent behavior have been climbing steadily over the past decade. Reports of female gang participation have also increased. Few empirically informed prevention strategies exist. Methods: Empirical analyses were conducted on qualitative interviews with 61 urban girls ages 11-17, drawn from a prospective cohort of 1,202 girls ages 9-18 from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Findings on what girls believe would prevent girl violence will be presented; quantitative data from the larger cohort will be used to provide context. Results: In the cohort sample, 19.5% of girls reported violent perpetration and 93% reported prosocial activities. Violence varied by neighborhood characteristics, including economic disadvantage and homicide rates. In the qualitative sample, 36 girls were involved in recent violence, usually with or against other girls. The majority also participated in prosocial activities (56/61), which were described as cultivating maturity, respect for others, self-discipline, self-esteem, and friendships. Self-reported responses to what urban girls need to avoid becoming aggressive included learning to manage anger, boredom, rumor mongering, and avoiding troublemakers. Some believed their violent behavior prevented victimization. Girls also identified contexts and factors that facilitated safety.Conclusions: Unlike polarized stereotypes, prosocial behavior is common among urban girls, and did not distinguish between violent and nonviolent girls. Positive school settings, supportive friendships, and adult confidantes or mentors were described as protective against girls becoming violent. Combining quantitative and qualitative data resulted in unique evidence-based recommendations for preventing violence among urban girls.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. List several strategies suggested by urban girls to avoid perpetrating violence and to be safe.
• 2. Recognize the value of using a mixed methods approach of combining qualitative and quantitative data to identify unique empirically-based variables.
• 3. Discuss our finding that girls are involved in numerous pro-social activities, whether or not they perpetrate violence, and that the quality, setting, and supervision of the activities were deemed important to girls remaining nonviolent.

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Adolescents

Related Web page: www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/index.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.