Youth Violence in High-Risk Communities in Puerto Rico: A Qualitative Approach

Introduction: A growing body of research shows that youth violence is becoming a critical public health problem. Understanding youth violence from a public health perspective demands a comprehensive approach that explores not only quantitative indicators of violence risk but also youth's perceptions and subjective experiences of this phenomenon. Objective: This study aims to explore how violence is perceived and experienced by adolescents living in high-risk communities in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Methods: Two focus groups (4 females and 5 males) and five semi-structured interviews (3 females and 2 males) with adolescents living in high-risk violence communities were conducted. Mean age for participants was 18 years old. Semi-structured interviewees were selected based on their violent behavior history whereas focus group participants were identified as resilient. Interviews focused on eliciting narratives on the experience and meanings ascribed to violence as victims, witnesses and/or perpetrators. Data was analyzed using a categorical-content approach with QSR NVivo and organized following a situational analysis framework. Results: Narratives portrayed the individual motivations that rationalized violent behavior, the peer-level conditions and the community context in which these behaviors are inscribed. Perceptions of violence and experience violence as perpetrators, victims and witness also emerged. Six major thematic domains emerged from participants' narratives: drug wars, fights and guns, couples and family violence, violence rationalization and resilience. Conclusions: Although perceived as a serious concern in their lives, violence is assumed as a customary element in their communities, fostering feelings of fatalism, hyper-vigilance, depression, and rationalization of violence as a defense mechanism.