Meda Chesney-Lind & Nikki Jones (Eds.): Fighting for Girls: New Perspectives on Gender and Violence

Abstract

Fighting for Girls: New Perspectives on Gender and Violence, an excellent new book edited by Meda ChesneyLind and Nikki Jones, dares readers to question media representations of girls as increasingly violent. The editors offer readers empirical evidence that the moral panic resulting from this representation of girls is not only unjustified but also very harmful to the girls themselves, especially to girls of color who are more likely to live in highly policed urban areas. Throughout the book, the research discussed is informed by perspectives of feminist scholarship; these perspectives emphasize the importance of understanding how gender, class and race intersect to affect certain individuals unequally and how important it is for the voices of girls, especially disadvantaged girls, to be heard. The ten chapters which comprise the book present studies which clearly demonstrate that the supposed evidence of girls’ new-found aggression results not from actual increases in girls’ use of violence but from circumstances, including zero tolerance policies, which render girls more likely to be arrested for behaviors which would previously have gone unnoticed by the criminal justice system. Fighting For Girls provides ample evidence that current depictions of girls must be challenged; most importantly, Fighting For Girls supplies readers with the crucial information essential to taking up that formidable challenge. In Chapter 1, Mike Males takes issue with both media and popular psychology’s preoccupation with the idea that girls have become both more violent and more pathological. Contending that such depictions are not accurate, Males bases his conclusions on analyses of FBI arrest data as well as findings from two large, longitudinal studies: Monitoring the Future, which surveyed 500,000 high school seniors between 1975 and 2005, and The American Freshman, which surveyed 16,000,000 college freshman between 1966 and 2006. According to the empirical evidence provided by these studies, Males concludes that girls are not only happier and healthier but actually less violent than in past. For instance, according to Males, recent years have been marked by declines in girls’ alcohol and illegal drug use, pregnancy and abortion rates, and violent crime perpetration and victimization. According to Males, the only sign that girls are increasingly in trouble can be found in the fact that girls’ arrests rates did increase between the 1970’s and 1990’s. As Males’ notes, however, this period marked a dramatic increase in arrest rates not just for girls but also for juvenile boys as well as adult men and women. In addition, as Males notes, much of the increase in girls’ arrests involves the category of simple or misdemeanor assault. Males concludes that the negative depictions of girls stem not from reality but from a persistent ‘‘gut-level fear of and for girls’’ (p. 30) who are moving into equal participation in society. He also notes that, with approximately 40% of the population of girls comprised of minorities, spreading fear of this demographic serves to keep these particular girls both marginalized and pathologized. Eve S. Buzawa and David Hirschel, in Chapter 2, ask why greater numbers of girls are being arrested for assault. Buzawa and Hirschel examine the possibility that girls may be negatively impacted by domestic violence statutes, which were initially meant to protect female victims, but which have fueled increases in arrests for many categories of offences relating to domestic incidents. The authors speculate that girls ages 13–18 may be more likely than either boys or adults to be arrested in these incidents H. L. Levesque (&) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: hlevesqu@indiana.edu