Why Girls Fight : Female Youth Violence in the Inner City / Cindy D. Ness.
2010
HV6791 .N38 2016
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Details
Title
Why Girls Fight : Female Youth Violence in the Inner City / Cindy D. Ness.
Author
Ness, Cindy D., author.
ISBN
9780814759073
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2010]
Copyright
©2010
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Item Number
10.18574/nyu/9780814758403.001.0001 doi
Call Number
HV6791 .N38 2016
Dewey Decimal Classification
303.6083520973
Summary
In low-income U.S. cities, street fights between teenage girls are common. These fights take place at school, on street corners, or in parks, when one girl provokes another to the point that she must either "step up" or be labeled a "punk." Typically, when girls engage in violence that is not strictly self-defense, they are labeled "delinquent," their actions taken as a sign of emotional pathology. However, in Why Girls Fight, Cindy D. Ness demonstrates that in poor urban areas this kind of street fighting is seen as a normal part of girlhood and a necessary way to earn respect among peers, as well as a way for girls to attain a sense of mastery and self-esteem in a social setting where legal opportunities for achievement are not otherwise easily available. Ness spent almost two years in west and northeast Philadelphia to get a sense of how teenage girls experience inflicting physical harm and the meanings they assign to it. While most existing work on girls' violence deals exclusively with gangs, Ness sheds new light on the everyday street fighting of urban girls, arguing that different cultural standards associated with race and class influence the relationship that girls have to physical aggression.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
Available in Other Form
print 9780814758403
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Table of Contents
Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
2. The City of Philadelphia and Female Youth Violence
3. Girls' Violent Behavior as Viewed from the Streets
4. The Reasons Girls Give for Fighting
5. Mothers, Daughters, and the Double-Generation Dynamic
6. Culture and Neighborhood Institutions
7. Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
About the Author
Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
2. The City of Philadelphia and Female Youth Violence
3. Girls' Violent Behavior as Viewed from the Streets
4. The Reasons Girls Give for Fighting
5. Mothers, Daughters, and the Double-Generation Dynamic
6. Culture and Neighborhood Institutions
7. Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
About the Author