Violent Political Contexts and the Emotional Concerns of Township Youth

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a series of studies that examine the perceptions of black South African youth about township life and the civil conflict and violence it encompasses. The studies were conducted with comparable samples of 58-82 youth at 3 points in South Africa's history, all characterized by high levels of violence but differing in terms of their political contexts. These contexts were overt State-community conflict, covert opposition and political repression, and intracommunity violence. The data revealed that in all 3 contexts youth reported a high exposure to violence, but only when violence occurred in the context of intracommunity conflict was it subjectively construed to be the most problematic. Reasons for this may include the real increase in more extreme forms of violence, including deaths, that occurs in intracommunity violence and the blurring of the distinction between political and criminal violence in this context.

A dialectical analysis of a social justice process: International collaboration in South Africa

“…Especially in the townships, children had been raised on a diet of violence (Gibson, 1989) that may have irreparably damaged an entire generation (Swartz & Levett, 1989). Straker, Mendelsohn, and Tudin (1996) studied the perceptions of violence among South African youth in the apartheid and post-apartheid periods and found that black-on-black violence has not dissipated since the repeal of apartheid; however, it has changed from politically motivated violence to domestic violence and random violence. The township youth increasingly perceive mistrust and hostility in the townships.…”

Examining northern Namibian teachers' impressions of the effects of violence, gender, disability, and poverty on young children's development: School-based countermeasures

“…Literature with an international focus is also recent, much of it on the general effects of children's chronic exposure to trauma (see, e.g., Celia et al, 1993;Garbarino et al, 1992). A modest but respectable body of knowledge has begun to emerge describing the effects of political violence and war trauma on children (see, e.g., Apfel and Simon, 1996;Cairns and Dawes, 1996;Dawes, 1994;Garbarino and Kostelny, 1996;Hobfoll and Stephens, 1990;Hoffman and Bizman, 1996;Jensen and Shaw, 1993;Ladd and Cairns, 1996;Machel, 1996;Macksoud and Aber, 1996;Miller, 1996;Mollica et al, 1997;Punamäki, 1996;Sack et al, 1996Sack et al, , 1997Scheper-Hughs, 1996;Straker et al, 1996). However, Cicchetti et al (1997, p. 228) have pointed out that, "Despite an increased emphasis on the reactions of children to trauma in general, and to war-related stress in particular, we continue to possess limited knowledge regarding the direct and indirect effects of war on the developmental process in children."…”

The South Africa Stress and Health Study: Rationale and Design

“…South African society characterized by high levels of violence against women, especially rape and interpersonal violence within the family (Gilbert, 1996;Jewkes and Abrahams, 2002;Marais et al, 1999;Straker et al, 1996). Gender is associated with differential exposure to trauma, and may also be associated with more serious physical and psychological consequences .…”

“…Exposures to violence such as intracommunity street battles and township raids by security forces have been found to be associated with psychological distress in children (Dawes, 1994) and teens (Mkhize, 1994;Straker et al, 1996). Symptoms of fear and anxiety were shown to be common among those experiencing this form of violence.…”

“…It may be important to distinguish period effects from age in South Africa. Young people from the most violent period in South African history have stated that violence was not a problem in their society (Straker et al, 1996) and appear to have normalized their experiences of exposure to high levels of violence. Other data suggest that there is considerable distress among children and adolescents exposed to violence (Ensink et al, 1997).…”