Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Despite the vast research on drugs, gang violence and gangsterism in South Africa and specifically in the Western Cape, little is known about the experiences of school-going adolescents who reside in the areas ravaged by these gangs. The general image that emerges from the literature is negative and apathetic about the plight of adolescents residing in gang infested communities as they are usually seen and referred to as part of the problem. Previous studies and literature have therefore omitted the actual experiences of non-gang related adolescents as a result of the existence of gangs and gangsterism in their communities. This research explored these experiences in detail focusing specifically on school-going adolescents between the ages of 16 to 18 and mostly targeting Grade 11 in Hanover Park- Western Cape. The population of the study was therefore all adolescents within the area of Hanover Park with the specific sample of study targeting mainly the school-going non-gang affiliated adolescents of Hanover Park, preferably those doing Grade 11 and registered at a Hanover Park school. The researcher also explored and looked at the experiences of the school-going adolescents through use of focus groups with at least eighteen (18) learners from each of the two selected high schools in Hanover Park. These 18 participants from each school were divided into three different groups implying that the researcher ran three separate focus groups at each of the schools. This was also be supported by the use of qualitative semi- structured interviews that were conducted with at least 6 participants from the focus group sessions with 1 participant being selected from each group. This ultimately gave perspective on the unexplored views and experiences of school-going learners in Hanover Park that are assumed to be non-gang affiliated but experience the pressures and existence of gangs in their communities

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Violence is considered a global mental health problem. The rate of violence in South Africa is amongst the highest in the world and much of this violence is disproportionately skewed towards the poorer and historically disadvantaged communities. Low-income communities continue to bear the brunt of historical legacies of violence which are perpetuated through current ongoing cycles of interpersonal and community violence. While much has been documented about trauma and resilience in environments where the violence or traumatic event has ceased, there is a dearth of literature conceptualising trauma and resilience in contexts where the violence persists. Furthermore, even fewer studies have captured how trauma and resilience are conceptualised from the perspectives of the voices who experience this violence daily. The social constructionist framework of this study aims to contribute to the knowledge of how trauma and resilience is constructed by those who experience ongoing violence, and whether resilience and healing does occur in an environment of continuous traumatic stress. The voices of the participants of the study provide an additional perspective from that of community-based counsellors. Their dual experience of living and working in a violent community gives a rich insight into the relationship between trauma and resilience. The study is located in Hanover Park, a low-income community, notorious for its high levels of community violence. The participants are community-based counsellors who volunteer at Organisation X, a community-based ecological intervention that has been developed in response to addressing the cyclical impacts of ongoing violence and continuous trauma. The research design is a purposive in-depth case study of eighteen counsellors, investigating the narratives of their lives within its real-life context. Follow-up focus groups held with the counsellors were guided by ideas and practices of narrative theory. The narratives were analysed using thematic content and experience-centred form analysis. Multi-level themes related to trauma and resilience were constructed by the participants. It was revealed that the trauma effects related to systemic ongoing violence are viewed as maladaptive features of negative resilience. At the same time positive resilience which promotes healing, empowerment and transformation is possible despite negative and violent environments. The perspectives of community counsellors which offer critically important insight into their experience of the context of violence, and the complex interconnecting of individual, interpersonal and social aspects of trauma and healing in disadvantaged communities, could also inform future evidence-based interventions, provide alternate paradigms within which mental health professionals could position themselves to engage in issues of social justice and psychosocial health. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geweld word wêreldwyd as 'n geestesgesondheidsprobleem beskou. Die voorkoms van geweld in Suid-Afrika, is tans een van die hoogstes in die wêreld en die meeste van hierdie geweld neig om veral die armer en histories benadeelde gemeenskappe negatief te raak. Gemeenskappe in die laer inkomstegroepe is dus die mense wat die spit afbyt, omdat hierdie historiese nalatenskap van geweld deur die huidige voortdurende kringloop van interpersoonlike en gemeenskapsgeweld voortleef. Alhoewel daar alreeds baie dokumentêre bewyse bestaan oor trauma en veerkragtigheid in omgewings waar geweld of traumatiese gebeure beëindig is, is daar 'n gebrek aan literatuur wat trauma en veerkragtigheid vasvang waar geweld die orde van die dag is. Daar is verder nog minder studies wat vaslê hoe trauma en veerkragtigheid uit die oogpunt van die betrokkenes wat geweld daagliks ervaar, gekonseptualiseer word. Die sosiale konstruksionisme raamwerk van hierdie studie beoog om 'n bydrae te lewer oor hoe , indien wel, trauma en genesing beleef word deur diegene wat voortdurende geweld ervaar in 'n omgewing waar aanhoudende traumatiese stres voorkom. Die deelnemers aan hierdie studie verskaf 'n addisionele perspektief van die van gemeenskapsberaders. Hul tweeledige ervaring van leef en werk in 'n gewelddadige gemeenskap verskaf 'n dieper insig in die verhouding tussen trauma en veerkragtigheid. Die buurt waar die studie gedoen is, is Hanover-park - 'n lae inkomste gemeenskap wat berug is vir hoe vlakke van gemeenskapsgeweld. Die deelnemers is beraders uit die gemeenskap wat vrywillige werk doen by Organisasie X - 'n gemeenskapsgebaseerde ekologiese intervensie wat ontwikkel is om die sikliese impak van voortdurende geweld en trauma te verminder. Die navorsingstudie is 'n doelgerigte diepgaande gevallestudie van agtien beraders wat hul lewensverhale binne die werklike konteks ondersoek. Die beraders het die opvolg fokus-groepe gelei deur idees en die narratiewe teorie in die praktyk toe te pas. Die vertellings is geanaliseer deur gebruik te maak van die tematiese inhoud en 'n ervarings-gesentreerde analitiese formaat. Veelvlakkige temas wat verband hou met trauma en veerkragtigheid is deur die deelnemers saamgestel. Dit het aan die lig gebring dat die effek van trauma wat verband hou met voortdurende sistemiese geweld geag word as wanaangepaste kenmerke van negatiewe veerkragtigheid. Terselfdertyd is die positiewe veerkragtigheid wat genesing, bemagtiging en verandering evorder moontlik, ten spyte van negatiewe en gewelddadige omgewings. Die vooruitsigte van die gemeenskapsberaders wat belangrike en kritiese insig in hul ervarings binne geweldsverband bied, die ingewikkelde verbondenheid van die indiwiduele, interpersoonlike en sosiale aspekte van trauma en genesing in benadeelde gemeenskappe kan insiggewend wees vir toekomstige ingryping. Dit kan alternatiewe modelle voorsien waarvolgens beroepslui in die geestesgesondheidveld hulself kan inrig om kwessies van sosiale geregtigheid en psigo-sosiale gesondheids-toestande aan te spreek.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The following study aimed to explore the development of resilience within male youth, despite exposure to numerous factors traditionally classified as high-risk. The research focussed on the developmental process of six male youth who engaged in positive coping through actively seeking protection in a high-risk environment, in the form of a non government organization within their community. The study assumed that the active seeking of a protective environment by high-risk youth is an indication of resilience. A phenomenological approach was used to understand the processes that aided the development of resilience within the individuals, through semi-structured in-depth interview guides. Qualitative thematic analysis was utilized to attain and understand common themes. An ecosystemic approach was used in conceptualizing the findings of this research. Indications of resilient development within male youths, relating to systemic factors, which contributed to resilience were explored. The major findings of this research were congruent with past research, both in South Africa and internationally. Three primary themes of support, control, and security emerged from the analysis. The research findings indicated that individuals possessing an internal locus of control were able to cope with adversity and had hence developed resilience. The participants in this sample were confident in their abilities, possessed motivation and belief in success. Systemic factors that were elicited as important in the optimal development of resilience were belief in the youth’s ability, and faith in their capacity to achieve,as well as providing support and guidance to youth when needed. The research found that if youth were faced with factors understood as high-risk, and were able to overcome them, these risk factors served to further enhance resilience. This research offers researchers and community organizations further insight into effective intervention programs to promote optimal youth development in high-risk areas.