Female Aggression - Hardcover

Gavin, Helen; Porter, Theresa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470975474 ISBN 13: 9780470975473

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014

Synopsis

This critique explodes the stereotypical assumption that men are more prone than women to aggression * A cogent and holistic assessment of the theoretical positions and research concerning female aggression * Examines the treatment, punishment and community response to female aggressive behavior * Examines topics including sexual power, serial murder and the evolution of gendered aggression * Treats female aggression in its own right rather than as a counterpart to male violence

About this title

Review:

"This book represents a truly fantastic addition to the literature on female aggression. It covers a whole host of aggressive crimes from a very thoughtful and gender-informed perspective. This book is an absolute necessity for professionals working with or researching women who have offended. I've no doubt that this book is a landmark text which will springboard important future research and practice in this area." Professor Theresa A. Gannon, University of Kent "Helen Gavin and Theresa Porter have written a brave and uncompromising book, one that is scholarly, firm, careful, and a bit daunting. They challenge our most cherished feminist beliefs about women as the more compassionate, cooperative, 'maternal,' and non-violent of the genders. Clearly, they are not only writing about teenage 'mean girls'; the authors are weighing the research on women, including mothers, who abuse and neglect children; batter their partners, both male and female, sexually assault (or join in group sexual assaults) of women, kill their babies, kill other adults. They refuse to minimize the importance of female aggression only because men are more violent and, to their credit, Gavin and Porter critique others for doing so. And why? Because the authors have treatment goals in mind, ways of helping anti-social mothers and/or of rescuing their children. An entirely laudable endeavor. This is a serious work and demands that the reader drop many preconceptions in order to benefit from the material presented. Brava for taking on this painful, difficult and important subject." Phyllis Chesler, Author of Women and Madness and Woman's Inhumanity to Woman

From the Back Cover:

Conventional wisdom states that men express their aggression through physical violence, while women do so in less direct and more nuanced ways. Female aggression is often ignored by mainstream social and medical commentators, and writings on the topic seem to view aggression by women or girls as either a pale imitation of male aggression or specific to certain situations, such as alcohol abuse or domestic violence. Yet viewing female belligerence as poorly expressed imitative behaviour minimises and trivialises women's anger, perspectives and viewpoints. This study of female aggression makes a critical assessment of this position, and explores ideas about female aggression, its motives and outcomes. In doing so, it explodes a number of social myths about gender.

This thorough, holistic review takes theoretical positions drawn from a range of scientific perspectives as its starting point, then explores how women experience and express their aggression, including through sexual assault and murder. In doing so, aggressive female behaviour is acknowledged, in its own right, as an issue that requires examination by researchers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0470975474
• ISBN 13: 9780470975473
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240