Rural Adolescent Girls Negotiating Healthy and Unhealthy Romantic Relationships

Authors

  • Toupey Luft University of Britsh Columbia
  • Melissa Jenkins University of British Columbia
  • Catherine Ann Cameron University of British Columbia

Keywords:

Human Development, Counselling Psychology, Female Development

Abstract

The focused discussions of adolescent girls were analyzed to explore the processes of managing healthy and unhealthy aspects of dating relationships. Grounded theory methods were used to generate an outline of these processes. The core category elicited from discussions with participants was wrestling with gender expectations. This category reflected participants’ struggle to behave within the constraints they perceived that gender placed on their intimate relationships. Six subcategories explicated this core category: determining responsibility, keeping it in/letting it out, standing up for oneself, making sacrifices, building trust/not trusting, and showing respect/showing disrespect. Implications for psychotherapeutic work and educational applications are discussed.

Author Biographies

Toupey Luft, University of Britsh Columbia

Melissa Jenkins, University of British Columbia

Catherine Ann Cameron, University of British Columbia

Honorary Professor of Psychology, University of British Columbia

Downloads

Published

2012-06-19

How to Cite

Luft, T., Jenkins, M., & Cameron, C. A. (2012). Rural Adolescent Girls Negotiating Healthy and Unhealthy Romantic Relationships. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 46(3). Retrieved from https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/59878

Issue

Section

Articles/ Articles