Young adults’ perceptions of community violence experienced during adolescence

Abstract

Children and adolescents’ have a right to safety, which should be provided in their home and schools as well as in their broader community. A safe environment helps to promote their well-being, both emotionally and physically. In South Africa, many communities are characterised by high levels of community violence. Adolescents, especially, are at high risk of exposure to community violence as they tend to spend more time in the community than in previous life stages. Research indicates that community violence can be experience in three different ways, either by victimisation, which is a direct form of exposure to community violence and by witnessing or hearing about community violence, which are both indirect forms of community violence. Being exposed to community violence in any way can cause adolescents to experience, emotional, social, academic and physical difficulties. Gestalt theory, which formed the theoretical framework for the study, thus emphasises the holistic impact of community violence on adolescents. In addition, community violence negatively affects families and the entire community. This study focussed on adolescents’ experience of community violence. For this purpose, data were collected from young adults who experienced community violence during their adolescent years. The goal of the study was to explore and describe young adults’ perceptions of community violence experienced during adolescence. A qualitative study was conducted to gain information on the perceptions of a sample of young adults of community violence that they were exposed to during their adolescent years. The research findings are intended to inform social work practice, therefore, applied research was applicable. The instrumental case study research design guided the research, and data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews based on an interview schedule. Purposive sampling was used to select participants that had experienced community violence during their adolescent years, and snowball sampling were used to recruit 14 participants in Cloetesville, Stellenbosch. The research findings showed that the participants were directly and indirectly exposed to high levels of community violence. The participants described how this exposure affected them as adolescents, amongst others their emotions, freedom of movement in the community, trust in others, their social interaction and schoolwork, which still had an effect on them as young adults. However, high levels of community violence also affected the entire community. From the research findings, it is concluded that community violence can have detrimental effects on adolescents that could influence their current and future well-being and functioning. Recommendations for practice include creating awareness in communities about the harmful effects of community violence, and implementing preventive and supportive services for individuals, families and communities to minimise the risk of exposure to community violence and mitigate the effects thereof. It is recommended that future research focus on the effects of community violence on persons from different age groups, for example children in middle childhood and the elderly, as well as on interventions that will empower individuals, families and communities to deal with community violence.

Key concepts:

Community violence Types of community violence Effects of community violence Risk and protective factors in community violence Exposure to community violence