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ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
FOR GIRLS
Female Development Theory
Rebecca Wigg-Ninham, M.S.W.
Brown County Human Services
Department
OUTLINE
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Psychosocial Development
Sexuality
Mental Health
School
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
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IDENTITY
SELF-ESTEEM
GENDER INTENSIFICATION
FRIENDSHIP
DATING
IDENTITY
• One of the most important tasks of
adolescence is to develop a sense of
identity. That is to decide who we are and
what we want to make of our lives.
• Identity formation for girls can mean
defining themselves in relation to others.
This would mean a fusion of identity and
intimacy.
IDENTITY
• Girls interplay between separateness
(meeting their own needs) and
connectedness (satisfying the needs of
those one cares for)
• This may be different than boys who see
themselves as separate and unique
IDENTITY
• The elements in the quest for identity are;
career choice, personal competence and
interrelationships
• Girls see interconnections between career
goals and family goals
• Boy do not
IDENTITY
• Family Unit and extended kinship network
is a key factor in identity formation for
ethnic minority adolescent girls.
• Identity with family and community seems
to provide strength and resources for
adolescent girls of color as they integrate
their ethnicity and their femaleness within
a larger society that devalues both.
SELF-ESTEEM
• Definition – the sense of worth or value
that people attach to themselves
• Perceived physical appearance is closely
related to self-esteem for girls. This is not
true for boys.
• Black girls are less concerned about body
shape and size, and physical appearance
is less important to their sense of selfworth.
SELF-ESTEEM
• In early adolescence self-esteem
diminishes for both genders, with girls
showing lower self-esteem than boys. The
gap becomes greatest in late
adolescence.
• Many more Black adolescent girls , 58%
remain confident and positive than did
White or Latino girls.
SELF-ESTEEM
• Compared to White girls, Black girls have
more confidence in their personal
attractiveness, femininity, popularity, and
social relationships in late adolescence.
GENDER INTENSIFICAION
• Gender differences in value orientation
become pronounced at the onset of
adolescence.
• Physical and Cognitive changes make
adolescents more aware of gender
expectations and more concerned about
what others think of them
FRIENDSHIPS
• Our closest friendships tend to be with people of
our own gender.
• Starting early in adolescence girls report greater
satisfaction with same gender relationships than
do boys. They also report more positive
friendship quality and closeness.
• Intimacy the sharing of thoughts and feelings
with someone else is a key characteristic of
adolescent relationships.
FRIENDSHIPS
• Girl’s relationships are more intimate than
boys. They report more self-disclosure and
emotional support, and they spend more
time with their friends than boys do.
• Girl’s friendships emphasize selfdisclosure and emotional support.
• Differences within gender may be more
closely tied to socioeconomics than
ethnicity.
DATING
• May begin as early as 12 or 13 for girls.
• Female victims of dating violence are
more likely to have been pregnant,
attempted suicide, shown disordered
eating behavior, used cocaine and alcohol,
have been abused as children, and
exposed to family violence.
DATING
• Ethnic minorities, girls, students with
disabilities lesbian, gay, and bisexual
students are more likely to be sexually
harassed.
SEXUALITY
• A recent nationwide survey of girls ages
11-17 by the American Association of
University Women found that sex and
pregnancy are the number one issues
facing teenage girls today.
• Girls as young as 12 report being
pressured to have sex.
BODY IMAGE
• The weight gain associated with puberty
occurs within a cultural context that
emphasizes a female beauty ideal of
extreme thinness.
• Girls are much more concerned with body
weight and appearance than are males the
same age.
BODY IMAGE
• The importance of body image to
adolescent females is indicated by the
association between teenage girls’ body
image and their self-esteem. The more
negative their body image is, the lower
their self-esteem.
MENTAL HEALTH
• Girls are more likely than boys to first
manifest psychological difficulties during
adolescence.
• Higher rates of depression among females
first appear in early adolescence and
continue into adulthood.
• Girls report more symptoms of depression
in response to stress than boys. Stresses
causing depression in girls are relational
MENTAL HEALTH
• Depression is a much stronger predictor of
delinquency for girls than boys
• Available research suggests that large
numbers of girls in the Juvenile Justice
System have serious mental health
problems often associated with histories of
sexual and/or physical abuse or neglect.
MENTAL HEALTH
• Research suggests that a majority of girls
in the juvenile justice system meet the
criteria for at least one mental disorder,
and in some studies girls show higher
prevalence rates than boys.
• Studies of psychiatric co-morbidity
consistently report higher prevalence rates
among girls in detention than comparable
boys.
SCHOOL
• According to Failing at Fairness written in
1994, teachers pay far less attention to
girls than boys.
• Boys are called on more often and given
more time to answer questions.
• Boys are more likely to be praised,
corrected, helped and criticized
constructively.
SCHOOL
• Boys are rewarded for being smart , while
girls are rewarded for being neat, pretty,
and compliant.
• Generally, girls in Juvenile Court are not
compliant and fare poorly in the schools in
Brown County.
• There is one gender specific school
program in Brown County and it serves
teen age pregnant girls and mothers.
REFERENCES
• Etaugh, Claire A. & Bridges, Judith S. (2004)
The Psychology of Women, A Lifespan
Perspective
• Jordan, Judith V., Kaplan, Alexandra G., Miller,
Jean Baker, Stiver, Irene P., Surry, Janet L.
(1991) Women’s Growth In Connection, Writings
from the Stone Center.
• National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile
Justice, Research and Program Brief (July 2003)
Bonita M. Veysey, Adolescent Girls with Mental
Health Disorders Involved with the Juvenile
Justice System