An expression of South African youth identity : understanding deliquency, violence and vandalism amongst the youth in selected informal settlements

摘要

This study sought to explore the perceptions of violence by the youth and to investigate the causes and consequences of violence amongst the youth. Specifically, the study aimed at exploring why the youth are predisposed to violence and violent crimes in informal settlements. A qualitative research design was used in this study. The researcher made use of the qualitative design because it allows for the richness of the personal experiences and meanings of the respondents to be explored, allowing the researcher to uncover variations between respondents. Based on the qualitative design, the study utilised the in-depth interview to solicit the views of young people living in New Brighton Township in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province. The objectives of the study were - To identify consequences of violence.- To assert if violence is normalised within a particular social environment.- To explore what predisposes the youth to violence.- To find out if parenting styles influence youth violence.- To explore the role of models in youth violence and crime. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling as the researcher sought typical and divergent data from the respondents. Data was collected through focus group interviews with nine young people aged nineteen to twenty- four years. The study established the following: Firstly, that violence is high in South African communities. It also found the following factors to be contributing to these high levels of violence: socialisation, unemployment, and family structures. The findings also indicated that some kinds of violence are normalised within the societies in which young people grow up in. Findings also indicate that, as a result of these violent behaviours, many South African youth lose their lives while others are imprisoned. This study also found that the environment in which a child grows up in has a greater impact on the child’s later behaviour in life. Overall, the study concluded that violence amongst the young people is a major problem facing South African communities. As one of the recommendations, the researcher indicated that punishing young people through imprisonment is not the solution, especially in a country where so many people are living in wretched poverty. Rather, the researcher recommended that minimising the levels of violence to which young people are exposed to on a daily basis could be one of the effective intervention strategies for decreasing this pandemic. This can be achieved by involving families, schools and communities in minimising this kind of exposure.