Download Relational Aggression in Adolescent Females

Relational Aggression
in
Adolescent Females
Definition
The National Association of School
Psychologists (2005) states that
Relational Aggression are acts that
“can include rumor spreading,
secret-divulging, alliance-building,
backstabbing, ignoring, excluding
from social groups and activities,
verbally insulting, using hostile
body language (i.e., eye-rolling and
smirking)”.
Definition Continued
“Other behaviors include making
fun of someone’s clothes or
appearance and bumping into
someone on purpose. Many of
these behaviors are quite
common in girls’ friendships,
but when they occur repeatedly
to one particular victim, they
constitute bullying.”
Cyberbullying - use of information and
communication technologies such as
e-mail, cell phone and pager text
messages, instant messaging,
defamatory personal Web sites, and
defamatory online personal polling Web
sites, to support deliberate, repeated,
and hostile behavior by an individual or
group, that is intended to harm others
(Belsey, 2003).
Cyberbullying and
Relational
Aggression
What?
Don’t forget text
messaging….
Why is
awareness of
Relational
Aggression
important for
Educators?
Victims of relational
aggression often experience
a range of difficulties in
school,
where much of the
harassment takes place.
Hallways, cafeterias, buses,
and locker rooms all are
places that may cause
anxiety.
These students feel
vulnerable, and the problem
is invisible to school faculty.
Victims may struggle to find
a seat in the lunchroom,
participate
in team projects, work with a
partner in science, or
join a team in gym class.
Seemingly harmless school
activities become painful
experiences.
Students may become so
anxious that worries about
being harassed or excluded
replace concern for
academic achievement.
It has been reported that
160,000 students each year
fail to attend
school out of fear of relational
aggression as related by the
National Association of
School Psychologists.