Views On Girlhood

In modern society various people partake in acts of aggression and violence. Regardless of age or gender, expressing aggression and participating in violent actions are frequent obscenities in many cultures today. In the documentary Girlhood, Liz Garbus follows two young women who have encountered numerous misfortunes in the past that led them to implement their violent offences. Both girls work towards their freedom from the rehabilitation center in Baltimore, Maryland and finally become productive members of society. The movie comes to an end with one of the girls, Shanae, after much perseverance, overcoming her appalling behaviours and graduate from high school. Megan, the other young offender continues to practise delinquent behaviours and struggle with her goals in life. Their lives were substantially different having unalike motivations and drawbacks to becoming who and where they were in the end of the film. Psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists would view each of their cases in separate ways, in order to uncover the explanation to why they performed such vicious acts and what led to their rehabilitation or lack there of.

Psychologists have unique methods for determining a cause of a certain violent behaviour or outburst. They examine the specific cases and study how assorted theories apply to them. As well, psychologists review significant past experiences in the person's life that would help to better understand the behaviours and outcomes of that person. A psychologist would examine the theory of frustration-aggression. This theory purposes the belief that aggression occurs because of an experience of frustration and the inability to achieve a certain goal. In Shanae's case, the girl she stabbed and Shanae had a constant battle occurring between them for quite sometime. There was a complex frustration linked in their friendship, that caused Shanae to retaliate, which led to the girl's death. Another theory, displacement, which involves the redirection of aggression that was established by Dollard in 1939, would be applied to the girls' cases. A psychologist would assume Shanae may have murdered her friend as a retaliation of frustration towards other areas in her life, such as her mother's constant absence because of the two jobs she worked in order to financially care for the family. Also, Shanae may of expressed displacement, from the time she was eleven, when she was raped by 5 boys, she knew and who were never arrested. In comparison, Megan's situation was similar as she may have committed 1st and 2nd degree assault and assault with a weapon as a way of expressing the frustration she suffered because of her mother's absence, as well. However, her mother was away periodically since Megan was seven, doing drugs, participating in prostitution or being in jail. Psychologists would also examine Shanae's and Megan's prior experiences as a way to explain their personalities and to explain why they acted in violent manners. Shanae took drugs, drank alcohol and had sex at an early age. She first has sex and drank alcohol at 10 years old. At eleven she was raped by five boys, and had two abortions. This trauma that a young girl should never experience may have influenced her personality and increased her aggression which caused her to stab her friend to death. Megan's past significant experiences were unrelated to Shanae's. Megan did not speak of rape in her past, however, she lived in eleven foster homes because of her mother's absence and her grandmother's inability to take care of her. In a psychologist's point of view, each of these girls' prior frustrations and prior experiences explain their violent acts.

Along with explaining Shanae and Megan's offences, psychologists would also tackle the question: what factors led to the different outcomes for both girls? Each girl had a drastically different outcome: Shanae ended up living in stable household, graduated high school, and was attending community college in the fall, while Megan, was currently living with an aunt, after constantly changing her residence, she was participating in drug use and had not yet graduated from high school. Shanae's positive outcome was a result of her lack in frustration, for she had the ongoing support and encouragement from her family. Although she experienced a dramatic tragedy, her mother dying, she positively dealt with it and as a result became a stronger person, working towards her goals. On the other hand, Megan's situation, at the end of the documentary, was a result of constant frustration from a variety of events in her life. She was experiencing anger because she felt nobody loved her, since no one came to visit her or was trying to get her to change her ways. Her father's harsh statement of, "I wish you were never born." Added to her anger and lack of motivation to change her lifestyle. Her mother's drug problem, and her failure to help her properly rehabilitate also must have caused Megan deep grief and sorrow. From a psychologist's view the lack of frustration in Shanae's life and the whole lot of it in Megan's, led to their separate outcomes in the end of Girlhood.

Anthropologists view the issue of Shanae and Megan from a completely different outlook than psychologists. These scientists examine other cultures to explain specific cases of violence and aggression. To explain Shanae and Megan's cases, an anthropologist would examine the North American culture as a whole. The common practises done by disadvantaged North American teens living in poor communities are: drinking, smoking, drugs, and practising violent behaviours. By Shanae living in the projects, she was subject to these negative pastimes and reluctantly grew accustom to them, and soon actively participated in them. Megan grew up in a similar environment and was exposed as well to such immoral activities. A value called ihuma that is practised in Inuit societies, requires people to remain in control of their emotions under all circumstances, and refrain from confrontation and aggression. However, North American culture does not practise such traditions, and people often display signs of aggression amongst each other, that demonstrates the acceptance of such practises, to girls like Shanae and Megan, and causes them to act violently. As well another significant aspect of the Inuit societies is Naklik, which is a concern for the welfare of others. In the western world, people care little for strangers, which allows people to commit horrendous acts towards others. Tahitian societies believe in the aspect of adoption, that encourages a family that has greater resources to take care of children from a disadvantaged family. Thus, allowing children to grow up in economically stable environments

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