an examination of the factor structure of the psychopathy checklist

Female youths’ engagement in aggressive and violent behaviour cannot be
predicted by a single factor but rather by numerous factors acting in combination, and
their motives are likely different than their male youth counterparts. Contributing to the
risk of such behaviours among girls are both systemic (e.g., family, community and
social context) and individual (e.g., personal) variables (Andrews & Bonta, 1998).
Family and social variables that have been shown to be related to aggressive
behaviour among youth include: social and financial deprivation; harsh and inconsistent
parenting; parents’ marital problems; family violence (i.e., between parents, by parents
toward children or between siblings); poor parental mental health; physical and sexual
abuse; and alcoholism, drug dependency or other substance misuse by parents or other
family members (Leschied, Cummings, Van Brunschot, Cunningham, & Saunders,
2001).
In the community, girls are more likely to use violence if they experience social
rejection or if they display a lack of attachment to school (Levene, Madsen, & Pepler,
2005). If these girls are seeking to improve their self-esteem, increase their feelings of
belonging, or seek revenge and protection, gang membership can be appealing (Joe &
Chesney-Lind, 1995), however, delinquent peer associations also lead to greater
opportunities to engage in aggressive behaviour. Female youth tend to attack other girls
who are perceived as competing with them for male attention, and they tend to maintain
social connections with peers who are perceived as helping them win in that competition
(Artz, 2000).
An examination of the individual factors that are related to girls’ use of violence
reveals that aggressive and violent girls often report having been victimized by others
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