Exploring factors of youth violence in South Africa

While youth violence has been recognized as a serious global health problem, there is a paucity of research about youth violence in South Africa. The goal of this study was to investigate influences of youth violence and to explore the effects of violence exposure among high school students in township schools proximal to Durban, South Africa. Three main hypotheses were explored in this study: 1) higher academic achievement will be negatively associated with violence; 2) positive racial identity will be negatively associated with violence; 3) friends' violent behavior will be predictive of violent behavior. Expected negative relationships between academic achievement and exposure to violence or participation in violence were not found. Perhaps environmental factors such as youths' fear of violence in their schools and overshadowed potential benefits gained from academic excellence. Racial centrality was negatively associated with endorsement of violent attitudes among participants, thus indicating a protective factor that could be utilized in future prevention interventions. Statistically significant relationships were found between students' participation in violent acts and having friends who participated in violence. Students who reported having friends who engaged in violent behavior were more likely to have witnessed violent acts and to have been a victim of an act of violence. Findings from this study indicate that it is important that effective, multi-level prevention efforts be developed to help South African youth cultivate and foster strategies to navigate challenging relationships with peers, families and their larger communities.