Gender Differences

PRACTICE

PERSPECTIVES

Gendered Differences: Postmodern Feminist Perspectives and Young Women Identified as "Emotionally Disabled ' '
Uta M. Walter 8 K. Jean Peterson

Abstract
Little consideration h a s been given to adolescent girls identified a s h a v i n g emotional disabilities in either t h e research or clinical literature. Social workers continue t o use d e v e l o p m e n t a l theories that are based on males, a n d t h u s contribute to t h e persistent silence a b o u t t h e n e e d s of this population. Feminist and p o s t m o d e r n perspectives c a n serve t o highlight h o w d o m i n a n t discourses around "gender/ "emotional disabilities/ and "psychological
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d e v e l o p m e n t " influence social work t h e o r y and practice with this population. This paper uses feminist a n d postm o d e r n re-visions of developmental theories to deconstruct t h e current research and clinical practices with female adolescents a n d s h o w s h o w t h e s e re-visions can inform our thinking a b o u t adolescent girls identified as h a v i n g e m o t i o n a l or behavioral disabilities.

CURRENT LITERATURE ABOUT ADOLESCENTS identified as having emotional "disabilities" rarely grants attention t o issues o f gender. T h e lack of consideration paid t o adolescent girls i n research and clinical literature "parallels t h e silence a b o u t adolescent girls in t h e literature of developmental psychology" (Gilligan, Rogers, & T o l m a n , 1 9 9 1 , p . 1). T h e experiences and lives of female adolescents in general, a n d those with emotional or behavioral disabilities in particular, remain largely invisible in research a n d theory. While feminist literature a b o u t female development has b e g u n t o address developmental issues specific t o adolescent w o m e n , feminist critiques have n o t yet included constructs s u r r o u n d i n g y o u n g w o m e n with disabilities. Therefore, social w o r k practice a n d research

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They can also be reached, respectively, at [e-mail] and [e-mail]. Authors ' Note: The authors wish to thank Christopher G. Petr and Dennis Saleebey for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this article. This article has been written in part with the support of the Liane V. Davis Scholarship Fund, School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas. Manuscript received: July 12, 2001 Accepted: February 20, 2 0 0 2 603