Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
5-2000
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Education
Major Professor
Robert F. Kronick
Committee Members
Mary Beth Leibowitz, Tricia McClam, H. E. R. Pollio, Sandra Thomas
Abstract
The focus of this study was on a specific facet of youth violence that has not been addressed or studied in a comprehensive manner—the violent adolescent female; more specifically, Southern Appalachian, adolescent females. There is very little research on violent girls and even less research on violent girls living in the region of Southern Appalachia. Ten interviews were conducted with adolescent females, ages 12-18, who lived in Southern Appalachia for at least ten years. Using phenomenological interview procedures, participants were asked to describe their experiences of being violent. Analysis revealed that participants described themselves in the context of self in relation to others: "I am a good girl, who can be bad." "I am scared and alone." "I am weak." The following experiential themes described the participants' experience of being violent: "When I am violent, I black out." "When I am violent, I grow bigger/stronger." "When I am violent, I explode like a hall of fire." Taken in totality, the contextual and experiential themes comprise the meaning of the phenomenon of female adolescent violence. The meaning of this experience appears as an episode emerging against a ground, supported by contextual themes, and the corresponding experiential themes. Exploring girls' lived experiences of violence sheds light on a rarely studied phenomenon. By asking girls to describe their experiences of being violent, a description of what it is like for them in the moment of being violent was obtained. A description of this phenomenon from the perspective of the experiencer yields some valuable information. The participants described specific episodes of being violent and what that experience was like for them. Ten Southern Appalachian, adolescent females were interviewed. Ten complicated, moving stories were shared yielding a single experience of being violent. Participants told of being disconnected from family, friends, and society. In the episode of violence, a connection is made although not a positive one. Each participant spoke of the importance of "family and kin." All problems discussed existed against the background of family. Also revealed was a continuing cycle of abuse/runaway/detention for many of these girls. They expressed frustration with the agencies of social control who arrest and detain them for running away from abuser and then release them to those abusers when time has been served. A final finding concerns the importance of "voice." By asking participants to describe the experience of being violent, valuable information is gained that would not otherwise be known. These findings are discussed in the context of the impact on the systems most involved in the lives of young, at-risk girls—family, schools, and juvenile justice. The full-service school concept is offered as a model of human service delivery that can meet the unique needs of the violent. Southern Appalachian, adolescent female. By involving schools and juvenile justice systems in a collaborative partnership—along with other agencies of social control—the desired population is served and families are impacted.
Recommended Citation
Lucas, Rebecca L., "The Southern Appalachian adolescent female's experience of being violent. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2000.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/8339