Collaborative%20Conversations:

1
Collaborative Conversations

• Adolescent girls strategies for managing
  indirect aggression in their friendship groups

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Research Problem

• Issues of conflict within adolescent girls
  friendship groups
• The impact of the conflict and the damaging
  effects on girls
• What strategies do girls have for managing these
  conflicts?

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Justification for the Research

• Expand on current research in relation to
  negative behaviours in adolescent girls
  friendship groups
• To include the voices and knowledge of girls in
  relation to their own strategies for managing
  friendship conflicts
• To assist adolescent girls to recognize their own
  strengths, skills, and abilities for dealing with
  conflict.

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Literature Review

• Indirect aggression in girls friendship groups
• The cost of Indirect aggression to girls
• Conflict resolution and Coping Styles
• Addressing the problems
• Girls views on adult intervention

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Participatory Action Research

• Using a Narrative perspective and a
  Participatory Action research approach
• 75 adolescent girls, in large and small groups,
  engaged in several interactive focus group
  sessions to address the issues of conflict and
  strategies for the management of conflict within
  their friendship groups.

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Method

• A three stage cyclical process of interviews,
  discussions and data analysis was adopted for
  this study through (Vickers 2007)
• Identifying the social problem - interviews
• Fieldwork interviews, clarification of data
• Analysis of the data, evaluating the outcomes and
  devising practical solutions

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Stage 1 Identifying the social problem

• Entry point - a previous Case Study by Huntley
  and Owens (2006)
• Manipulative, Competitive, Abusive and Respectful
  Behaviours
• Documented contributions from girls - what they
  liked and disliked in their friendship groups

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Stage 2 Interviews and Data Collection

• Analysis of the girls responses revealed
• Problems with groups when the group has a leader
• The power of non-verbal communication
• Girls difficulties in having a voice and
  speaking up for themselves
• Formation of 3 questions

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Question 1

• Have you been expected to go along with the
  leader of the group or the groups decision even
  if you did not agree?
• What have you done to cope with these behaviours?
  
• What strategies do you have for managing this
  situation?

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Girls responses

• 2 distinct friendship groups
• Groups with leaders high levels of indirect
  aggression leader domination, bitching,
  rumours, gossip, exclusion
• Groups where all members were equal far fewer
  problems

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Girls strategies for managing a group with a
leader

• Have a wide range of friends
• Choose friendship group carefully
• Groups with leaders will always have problems
• Learn to speak up and stand up for yourself
• Do not repeat the negative behaviours that have
  been done to you
• Remove yourself from gossip, bitchiness and
  back stabbing
• Walk away from conflict

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Question 2

• Have you been easily silenced by a look (daggers,
  the evil eye), a comment or body language?
• What have you done to cope with these behaviours?
• What strategies do you have for managing this
  situation?

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Girls responses

• High percentage spoke of tactics of intimidation
  and exclusion
• Rolling eyes
• The stare
• Cold shoulder
• Silence
• They stand in front of you and block you out of
  the group

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Girls strategies for managing exclusion and
intimidation

• Ignore it completely
• Recognise it as immature and bitchy behaviour
• Do not repeat the behaviours that have been done
  to you and that you have seen operating in groups
• Walk away do not stay and be humiliated

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Question 3

• With your group of friends can you think of a
  time when you felt it was not okay to say that
  you disagreed or to voice your own opinion?
• What have you done to cope with these behaviours
• What strategies do you have for managing this?

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Girls responses

• Many girls were not able to speak up for
  themselves
• Easier to remain silent than be ridiculed or
  humiliated by group
• Did not want to offend
• Did not want friends to become angry
• Did not want to be blamed for upsetting the
  friendship group
• Hard to disagree with friends
• Lack of confidence kept girls silent
• Fear of the consequences kept girls silent
• Inability to problem solve kept girls silent
• Staying in a dysfunctional group was often easier
  for girls who were vulnerable as a dysfunctional
  group was better than no group

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Girls strategies for learning to speak up for
oneself

• Learn to problem solve situations
• Have confidence in yourself and learn to speak up
• Trust your own decisions
• Know where your boundaries and limits are
• Do not be dependent on group approval
• Learn to manage peer pressure by thinking about
  situations in advance
• Find friends who are mostly like you
• Ask for help from parents, a trusted friend or
  the school counsellor

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Stage 3Evaluating the Outcomes

• This process supported adolescent girls to
  highlight and rank 12 of their own key strategies
  for managing conflict within their friendship
  groups.

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Discussion Girls who coped well and had good
strategies for managing conflict

• Were able to problem solve situations
• Had effective coping skills
• Kept their emotions in check
• Had a wide circle of friends
• Chose friends most like themselves
• Walked away from conflict
• Refused to be part of bitching, rumour mongering,
  gossip
• Spoke up for what they believed in
• Refused to be part of unsociable peer behaviour
• Knew right from wrong had clear boundaries
• Sought help when required

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Discussion

• Girls who were vulnerable to Indirect aggression
  displayed
• Poor coping skills - used wishful thinking as a
  non productive coping skill
• Poor problem solving skills
• Poor emotion regulation
• Lacked confidence in themselves and their
  abilities
• Were fearful of speaking up because they feared
  the consequences

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Stage 3 Actionable Outcomes

• Consideration of peer mentoring and mediation
  processes in schools (Owens, Shute and Slee 2005)
• Small group discussions for girls focusing on
  coping and problem solving skills (Frydenberg and
  Lewis 2003, Hawkins, McKenzie and Frydenberg
  2006)
• Confidence building programs for girls

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Conclusion

• This study has highlighted adolescent girls
  knowledge, creativity and ability to negotiate
  their way through peer conflict, thereby creating
  an alternative story for adolescent girls, one
  that is not debilitated by conflict, but
  acknowledges their skills and competence for
  managing conflict.