Abstract

This narrative study explores young women’s relational aggression and violence in the context of their friendships and peer relationships with other young women. The study, focusing on complex relational meanings of girl fighting from the perspective of young women themselves, addresses underlying interpersonal experiences that have been overlooked in past research. Nineteen African American and Latina women (ages 18-21) were interviewed using the Listening Guide Method about their experiences of relational aggression and violence. Findings from this qualitative analysis foreground the centrality of relationships in young women’s lives. The study pays particular attention to the role of personal agency and their ability to thrive in communities of connection with other young women. The findings highlight a relational paradox: fighting for friendship, justice, and respect, demonstrated the multilayered meanings, motivations, and subjective experiences young women ascribe to their experiences of fighting with other young women, as well as the relationship between fighting and friendship in urban contexts. Social work practice and policy implications include the development and implementation of gender-specific, culturally responsive violence prevention programs for urban young women and girls.