Ethnic Differences in Parents' Attitudes toward Girls' Use of Aggression

Abstract

Few studies have attempted to explain ethnic differences in female aggression. The degree to which ethnic differences exist in the influence of parents' approval of aggression on their preadolescent daughters' use of physical, verbal, and relational aggression was explored in a sample of 97 parent-child dyads. Results indicate that European American parents were more disapproving of their daughters' aggressive behavior than were African American parents. Parents' attitude toward aggression was predictive of European American girls' use of physical and verbal aggression and African American girls' use of relational aggression. Implications for aggression prevention and intervention for girls are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• ethnic differences
• parenting attitudes
• physical
• verbal
• and relational aggression

Portions of this research were based on the dissertation of Jamilia J. Blake. This research was funded by grants awarded to Jamilia J. Blake by the Georgia Association of School Psychologists and The University of Georgia Dean of Graduate School Social Sciences Award and fellowships sponsored by the Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Fellowship and Southern Regional Educational Board. The authors would like to thank Jiun-Yu Wu, MS, Texas A & M University, for his assistance with the development of figures for this article.