Factors influencing the responses and perceptions of responses of Indian South African adolescents towards problem situations in the Gauteng school setting
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Date
2017
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Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
Abstract
Violent crime has a destabilising effect on society as it results in the loss of human lives, and it also affects the economy. There is a high level of violence in South Africa to the extent that it is undeniably a hazard to public health. This culture of violence is deeply rooted in South African history as political violence thrived during Apartheid and, when Apartheid ended, interpersonal violence became more prevalent. This new wave of violence is most burdensome to the youth of South Africa as the majority of them live in communities where violence is prevalent. This violence permeates the various environments (e.g. neighbourhood, school and family) the child is exposed to. In South Africa, the youth population falling into the age cohort of 15 to 25 years of age experience the highest rate of violence in the country and the majority in this age cohort are school-going youths. Violence in South African schools has escalated to such an extent that it is widely decried as a severe public health crisis.
The purpose of this study was to explore the tendency South African Indian adolescents have to adopt the different types of responses (non-violent, overtly aggressive, relationally aggressive and mediocre) that are commonly used to resolve typical problem situations that adolescents face in the school setting. The research sought to explore the perceptions that these adolescents hold concerning the applicability of these responses. This study aimed to examine how the associating demographic factors (gender, age and residential environment) of the adolescents influence their preference for certain common responses and their perceptions concerning the effectiveness of these responses to resolve typical problem situations.
The comparative analysis of the demographic categories did not produce any results of statistical significance, thus indicating that there is no difference in the preferences and perceptions of the demographic categories (males versus females, township (TS) versus suburb (SB) youths, and middle adolescence (MA) versus late adolescence (LA) youths that were compared against each other. However, upon further analysis of these results, a trend towards a higher level of preference for overtly aggressive responses among LA individuals and males, in comparison to MA individuals and females respectively, was identified. A similar trend was identified for the same demographic categories when comparing perceptions regarding the effectiveness of overtly aggressive responses in resolving problem situations. The remainder of the results from the additional analyses are similar to the findings of the initial analyses.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2017].