| Research on aggression commonly cites that boys engage primarily in physical aggression, as characterized by the pursuit of dominance via hitting, kicking, and threatening while girls engage primarily in relational aggression, which includes a plethora of behaviors geared toward manipulating others' social interactions and inflicting harm on peers so as to cause damage to peer relationships. Although most research suggests that girls engage in relational aggression more than boys, contradictory findings suggest that there is no significant difference between boys' and girls' perpetration of, or victimization by, relational aggression. In fact, some studies indicate that boys engage in relational aggression at a higher rate than girls. Further, it is found that boys involved in relationally aggressive acts exhibit significantly higher degrees of social-psychological maladjustment than girls involved in relational aggression. Despite these findings, however, there has been relatively little focus on the experiences of relational aggression in boys. This is perhaps due to the attention given to overt physical aggression in boys and their tendency to ignore a relational aggressor or respond with a physically aggressive act in return, both of which lead the relationally aggressive act to go unnoticed. In any case, given that boys are involved in relational aggression and suffer its consequences, studying their perception and experience of relational aggression is warranted and is the goal of the current research.;As a sub-project of grant-funded research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a focus group methodology was employed to study boys' perceptions and experiences of relational aggression. Twelve 5th grade children (6 males in one group and 6 females in another group) at a West Philadelphia elementary school participated in the focus group study over the course of seven weeks. All participants were of low socioeconomic status, African American, and from regular education classes. Boys in this study provided initial evidence that they experience some aspects of relational aggression in similar ways as girls. For example, for both boys and girls, relational aggression includes gossip, rumors, and exclusionary behaviors, is a common problem, is typically enacted in unstructured and unsupervised settings, and is carried over from one location to another. For both sexes, there is a link between physical and relational aggression. Finally, adults' feelings toward males and females involved in relational aggression tend to vacillate and their responses to relationally aggressive behaviors are inconsistent at best. On the other hand, this study provides critical data on the ways in which boys and girls perceive and experience relational aggression differently. For instance, the primary functions of relational aggression in boys are to show off and to expel anger, while for girls relational aggression tends to be enacted out of jealousy or revenge. Second, male perpetrators of relational aggression are not popular, while female perpetrators are popular. This may be due to a gender-based stigma that exists for boys who are involved in gender non-normative behaviors, but not for girls. Finally, although both boys and girls perceive relational aggression as a problem and can identify its negative implications, boys do not see as much of a need for help as girls do. Results from the study enhance the literature on girls and relational aggression, provide critical information on boys' perceptions and experiences of relational aggression and treatment needs, and can contribute to aggression prevention programming for youth, as well as parent, teacher, and playground supervisor training programs. |
