ABSTRACT

Child maltreatment and exposure to violence are pervasive in South African townships. Coupled with economic hardships, many youth turn to drugs and crime, and eventually come in contact with the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of how one young man perceives aspects of his life prior to, during, and after incarceration in South Africa. The study focuses on a semi-structured interview with “Bobby”, a twenty-six-year-old male living in a city in western South Africa. The theoretical perspective guiding this study was Dilthey’s hermeneutics. The interview data was analyzed using Gilligan’s Listening Guide methodology. Prevalent themes include pervasive violence for Bobby at home and in school, drug abuse, gang activity, and crime. Bobby’s experiences often produced dissonant melodic lines – conflicting voices that are in opposition with one another. Two voices of conflict were the voice of knowing his current reality and the voice of evading the violent reality that surrounds him. This study illustrates the need for research to hear the voices of other youth, as well as the need for research on effective school- and community-based interventions to address issues with the maltreatment of youth, substance abuse, and gang involvement.

摘要

南非城镇普遍存在虐待儿童和遭受暴力侵害的情况。加上经济困难，许多年轻人转向毒品和犯罪，并最终与少年司法系统接触。这项研究的目的是深入了解一个年轻人在南非被监禁之前，之中和之后如何看待自己生活的各个方面。这项研究的重点是对“鲍比”（Bobby）的半结构化访谈，他是居住在南非西部一个城市的26岁男性。指导这项研究的理论观点是狄尔泰的诠释学。使用Gilligan的《听力指南》方法对访谈数据进行了分析。流行的主题包括在家里和学校对Bobby的普遍暴力，吸毒，帮派活动和犯罪。鲍比的经历通常会产生不和谐的旋律线-相互对立的冲突声音。冲突的两种声音是了解他当前现实的声音和逃避围绕他的暴力现实的声音。这项研究表明，需要进行研究以听取其他年轻人的声音，还需要进行有效的以学校和社区为基础的干预措施的研究，以解决对年轻人的虐待，滥用毒品和帮派参与的问题。