Adolescent Boys in an Extended Day Treatment Program for Behavior Problems and Their Reflections About Relationships with Women and Girls

ABSTRACT Adolescent boys with behavioral problems commonly have disturbances in their relationships with women and girls. Previous studies suggest that the causes include conflicts with their mothers and separations from them during childhood. Vignettes about relationships between adolescent boys and mothers and other women/girls were used to study how these adolescents view personal relationships with females. Twenty-seven boys in an urban publicly funded extended day treatment program depicted relationships with women and girls as conflict ridden. With probing, many of the boys became aware that if a boy feels angry with his mother, he may take it out on another woman or girl. The use of vignettes enabled these adolescent boys to reflect on their relationships with girls and women.