Exploring what factors influence African American adolescent females to act violently towards each other

The purpose of this study is to explore the influential factors of African American adolescent and college-aged (13-20) females who engage in violent and aggressive behavior. The experience of these participants was elicited through self-developed, semi-structured interviews composed of questions that explored several possible contributing factors. Interviews were conducted with 12 females who self-identified as African American. The study explored themes of family dynamics, community violence exposure, identification with negative stereotypes and challenges with education and victimization. Major findings were that family dynamics and peer relationships were identified as major influential factors of the participant\u27s engagement in violent behavior. While there was a variation in emphasis and specificity in each participant\u27s discourse, majority of the participants shared similar responses. The limitations and implications of this study suggest that there\u27s a need for further study on this specific population and topic. This study represents each participant individually; giving the participants an opportunity to share their story. There still remains a need for further exploration