Thesis ((M. A.(Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / The influences of alcohol abuse amongst the youth have been linked to multiple risk factors. Alcohol abuse among the youth is costing the country a lot of money every year. The aim of the study was to explore and describe risk factors of alcohol abuse amongst the youth in Musina Town, Limpopo Province. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative approaches (mixed method). An exploratory-descriptive research design was utilised. The population of the study was drawn from learners and church leaders. A triangulation of sampling designs were employed in this research project: stratified-target and purposive sampling designs. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science and Nvivo software. The study revealed that an easy access to purchase alcohol, affordability of alcohol, peer pressure, self-esteem, stress, permissive parents, family members who drink and poor legislations enforcement put young people at risk of indulge binge drinking. Moreover, the study revealed that those above-mentioned risk factors have a negative impact on the well-being of young people. Young people who indulge into alcohol abuse end up contracting sexual transmitted infection and/or having unplanned pregnancy which later result in abortion. Alcohol abuse amongst the youth has been a contributing factor to social problems. The above study indicated, peers pressure, poor legislation enforcement, accessibility substances, affordability of alcohol, self-esteem and stress plays a significant role in influence youth’s decision to use or not use alcohol. To that end, the risk factors of alcohol abuse amongst the youth influences the behavioural change which later encourages maladaptive behaviours such as heavy episodic drinking at parties. The findings of the study point to the disbursements of funds for research purposes and in particular to Social Work scholars to do more research on risk factors of alcohol abuse in deep rural areas.

Understanding how students endorse affirmative consent in their sexual relationships is essential to sexual violence prevention. Some research has indicated that LGBT students and students with disabilities may negotiate and endorse consent uniquely because of socially constructed traditional sexual scripts. Research indicates gender differences may exist as well. The proposed research examines differences based on gender, LGBT status, and disability in affirmative consent endorsement and peer norms around sexual violence. Results indicated that women, nonbinary students, LGBT students, and students with disabilities were significantly less likely than their privileged counterparts to indicate low endorsement of affirmative consent. Results also indicated that women and some LGBT students are significantly less likely than their privileged counterparts to indicate high peer norms supporting sexual violence. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1983. / Thesis statement with abstract and errata slip inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-240).

Studiens syfte är att genom en litteraturstudie undersöka psykosociala riskfaktorer till ungdomsbrottslighet. Riskfaktorer som undersöks är individuella attribut, familjeförhållanden, individens egna psykiska förutsättningar, betydelsen av skolgång samt vänner och grupptillhörighet. Då fokus ligger på individen, kommer studien att analyseras utifrån sociala och utvecklingspsykologiska teorier. Forskare i psykologi och kriminologi förklarar att bakomliggande orsaker till att individen begår brott i ung ålder, måste förstås i ett sammanhang med fler faktorer i beaktande, exempelvis individuella egenskaper, men även villkor och erfarenheter i förhållande till dennes miljö. I annan mening krävs det mer än en riskfaktor för att ett brottsligt beteende ska formas, men de betonar däremot att en enda  riskfaktor även kan härleda till en utveckling av fler. Viktigt att belysa är också att sammansättningen av faktorer inte är identiska för varje individ. Ungdomsbrottsligheten kännetecknas av ett reaktivt kriminellt tänkande, vilket innebär att brott i hög utsträckning begås impulsivt och oplanerat. Andra konstaterade riskfaktorer är  ungdomens familjeförhållanden. Att leva i en dysfunktionell familj, präglad av konflikter mellan syskon, otydlig hierarki mellan barn- och föräldraroll, våld i hemmet samt föräldrar med beroendeproblematik av olika substanser och psykiska bekymmer, ökar sannolikheten med 86% för ungdomar att begå våldsbrott. Vidare har det konstaterats att egenskaper såsom spänningssökande, impulsivitet, svårhanterlig aggression, brist på motivation till studier och ambitioner för livet, utgör en riskfaktor för att falla i kriminaliteten. Att ha en ADHD diagnos har också visat sig vara en sårbarhet och cirka var femte interner i den svenska kriminalvården har diagnosen. Även en hög skolfrånvaro och misslyckande med studier är förknippat med en individs uppvisande av våldsamt och kriminellt beteende. Faktum är ungdomar redan inom 12 månader utan skolgång uppvisar ett normbrytande beteende. Slutligen är influenser från vänner avgörande när barnet når tonåren. Att umgås med någon som begår brott utgör en stor riskfaktor för att själv hamna i ungdomsbrottsligheten. / The aim of this literature study is to research the psychosocial (risk) factors behind juvenile criminality. Researchers in psychological and criminological fields explain that, the underlying factors that lead an adolescent to criminality, need to be analysed through multidimensional lenses, since there are several factors leading to juvenile criminality. Usually, there is more than one factor that leads to juvenile delinquency, nevertheless, researchers claim that a single risk factor can also lead to the development of other factors, hence, leading young people to commit crime. It is also important to highlight that the combination of factors is not identical to every individual. Juvenile criminality is characterised by reactive criminal thinking, therefore, crimes are largely committed impulsively and unplanned. Moreover, other established risk factors are the family circumstances of the adolescent. The probability of adolescents committing crime, increases by 86% when living in an environment that is characterised by a dysfunctional family, dominated by sibling conflicts and unclear hierarchy between parents and children, violence in the home, and parents with drug addictions and psychological instability. Furthermore, it is proven that characteristics, such as, sensation seeking, impulsiveness, aggression, lack of educational motivation and lack of life ambitions, are also risk factors for falling into crime. Additionally, having an ADHD diagnosis has also been shown to be a vulnerability and about every fifth inmate in the Swedish prison system has the diagnosis. Moreover, school absenteeism and failure to study are also associated with an individual's display of violent and criminal behavior. In fact, adolescents who have been 12 months without schooling, show a norm-breaking behavior. Finally, the influence of friends is crucial when the child reaches adolescence. Hence, spending time with someone who commits a crime is a major risk factor for the individual to fall into juvenile delinquency.

Students' classroom engagement is a strong predictor of positive educational outcomes including academic achievement, GPA, and standardized test scores. Most existing research has focused on the role of quality parenting and teaching in the development of student engagement. However, some research has shown small, yet significant effects of influences from students' peer groups on the development of their engagement. The goal of this study was to explore whether some children are more susceptible to the effects of their peer groups, and to examine a series of possible factors that might amplify the influence of a target students peer group on the development of that students' own engagement over the course of an academic year. In a re-analysis of an existing data set (Kindermann, 2007), peer group profiles of student engagement were examined as predictors of changes in individual engagement from fall to spring. It was expected that peer groups' levels of engagement would vary in their predictive power for changes in students' own engagement over the school year, depending upon individual levels of peer relatedness, the number of peers with whom the student affiliates with, student perceptions of parental involvement, as well as person-to-group differences in engagement. Gender differences were expected to be non-significant. As expected, results from two sets of analysis indicate no significant gender differences in susceptibility to peer influence. Furthermore, results suggest that susceptibility to peer influence on school engagement may depend upon the number of peers with whom a student affiliates with, parental involvement, as well as person-to-group differences in engagement. However, contrary to expectations, results suggest that a student's susceptibility to peer influence may not depend upon self-reported peer relatedness. Details of the analyses, results, strengths, limitations, and implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of our essay, “Scroll, click, buy: the role of social media in consumer culture”, is to investigate how young women aged 20-24 are influenced by their own consumption, also which factors have an influence, such as peer pressure, advertising, economics, influencers,or the climate issue. We want to investigate this through the question: How are young women affected by different social media in relation to their social circle and their own consumption?The method for carrying out the essay is of a qualitative nature, where interviews are the basis for data collection. We used this method to get the opportunity to find the more profound thoughts and consumption patterns of our interviewees. This data gave us the opportunity to analyse how the category of young women relates to our question. We have analysed our collected data with the theories, social bonds by Thomas Scheff, subjectivity fetishism by Zygmunt Bauman and surveillance capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff. Through this study, we can see that young women are aware of the impact that consumer behaviour has on the climate. We can also see a lack regarding how they see their own impact on the climate, as well as individual responsibility / Syftet med vår uppsats är att undersöka hur unga kvinnor i åldern 20–24 påverkas i sin konsumtion, även om det finns faktorer som har påverkan, såsom grupptryck, reklam, ekonomi, influencers eller klimatfrågan. Detta undersöks genom frågeställningen: Hur blir unga kvinnor påverkade av olika sociala medier i förhållande till sin umgängeskrets och sin egen konsumtion? Metoden för uppsatsens genomförande är av kvalitativ art, där intervjuer är grunden för datainsamling. Vi använde oss av denna metod för att få möjlighet till att hitta de mer djupgående tankarna, samt konsumtionsmönster hos våra intervjupersoner. Denna data gav oss möjlighet till att analysera hur kategorin unga kvinnor förhåller sig till vår frågeställning. Vi har analyserat vår insamlade data med teorierna sociala band av Thomas Scheff, subjektivitets fetischism av Zygmunt Bauman och övervakningskapitalism av Shoshana Zuboff. Vi kan genom denna studie se att unga kvinnor är medvetna om den påverkan som konsumtionsbeteenden har på klimatet. Vi kan även se en brist gällande hur de ser på sin egen påverkan på klimatet, samt det individuella ansvaret.

Understanding the sexual behaviour patterns that can place the adolescent at risk for the development of sexually transmitted diseases is crucial in the HIV I AIDS epidemic era. An explorative descriptive survey was conducted among adolescents in the age group 14 to 19 years attending sexually transmitted disease services in the Vaal Region clinics. The purpose of the study was to explore the sexual behaviours of the adolescents and the impact the life style health education programme had on their sexual practices. Of the 89 respondents who attended the sexually transmitted disease clinic more than half were found to be engaging in sexual intercourse on a weekly basis. The study further revealed that the adolescents lacked in-depth information on sex and sexuality and expressed the need for change in the implementation of the adolescent life style health education programme. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)