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1	A Novel Approach to Youth Crime Prevention: Mindfulness Meditation Classes in South African Townships / A Novel Approach to Youth Crime Prevention : Mindfulness Meditation Classes in South African Townships Kneip, Katharina January 2020 (has links) Children growing up in poor areas with high crime rates are shown to easily get involved in violent actions and criminal gangs. In South Africa, despite considerable efforts to reduce youth delinquency, youth crime rates are still disturbingly high – specifically, in the townships of the Cape Flats. This paper points out an important aspect previously unaddressed by most youth crime prevention: the subconscious roots of youth crime. What if we could develop youth crime prevention programs that manage to impact the subconscious behavioral patterns of youth in high crime areas? This paper proposes a promising and cost-effective approach that has great potential to affect multipe causes of crime: mindfulness meditation. Built upon newest findings in Neuroscience, this paper suggests that mindfulness meditation classes are associated with a reduction in aggressive behavior, a risk factor for youth crime, and an increase in self-efficacy, a protective factor. The impact of mindfulness classes at a high school in Khayelitsha, a poor and violent-stricken township of Cape Town, is analyzed. Self-reported aggression and self-efficacy are measured via a psychometric survey questionnaire created from two well-tested and validated scales. Regression analyses of 384 survey answers provided mixed results. Whilst novice meditators were not associated with higher self-efficacy and lower aggression, long-term meditators performed better in several dimensions of self-efficacy and aggression, yet no significant relationship was found. Further research specifically needs to investigate the moderating effect of age (a proxy for psychological development) on meditation. This study aims to bridge the gap between the outdated paradigms of youth crime prevention and ancient wisdom via ground-breaking new evidence from the field of Neuroscience. This study furthermore hopes to point policy makers toward developing new, integrative and sustainable approaches to youth crime prevention – approaches that give back agency to our youth. / <p>Anders Westholm har inget med betygssättningen att göra annat än i rent formellt hänseende (examinator). Det är han som rapporterar in och skriver under men i sak är det seminarieledaren som har beslutet i sin hand. Statsvetenskapliga institutet har som princip att skilja på handledning och examination vilket innebär att handledaren inte får vara seminarieledare. Seminarieledare och personen som satt betygget var i det här fallet Sven Oskarsson: Sven.Oskarsson@statsvet.uu.se</p> Juvenile delinquency youth aggression crime youth crime prevention cost-effective crime prevention crime rates psychometric survey questionnaire psychological scales aggression scale self-efficacy scale regression analysis quantitative study empowerment youth agency youth development development sustainable approach self-development Psychology Social Psychology abuse trauma risk factors protective factors townships poor area violent area Khayelitsha Guguletu Mitchell's Plain Ghetto Africa South Africa Cape Town Cape Flats school mindfulness meditation mindfulness meditation Kabat-Zinn future resilience subconsciousness subconscious brain emotional brain decision making aggression disruptive behavior self-efficacy self-esteem self-regulation emotional regulation subconsciousness subconscious behavioral patterns Neuroscience Political Science Development Studies Peace and Conflict Uppsala Jugendgewalt Jugendkriminalität Jugendaggression Aggressionsbewältigung Gewalt Verbrechensrate Gewaltrate Jugendgewaltprävention Gewaltprävention Survey-Studie Umfrage psychologische Skalen Aggressionsskala Selbstwirksamkeitsskala Regressionsanalyse Quantitative Studie Handlungsfähigkeit Jugend nachhaltig Entwicklungsarbeit Entwicklung Selbstentwicklung Psychologie Sozialpsychologie Missbrauch Trauma Risikofaktor Schutzfaktor Townships Armenviertel Konfliktgebiet Ghetto Cape Town Cape Flats Khayelitsha Südafrika Afrika Schule Primarschule weiterführende Schule Achtsamkeit Meditation Mindfulness Meditation Kabat-Zinn Zukunft Resilienz Aggression Selbstvertrauen Selbstwirksamkeit Selbstbewusstsein Selstregulierung Emotionsregulierung unbewusste Verhaltensmuster Unterbewusstsein Neurowissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Entwicklungsstudien Friedensforschung Uppsala Ungdomskriminalitet brottslighet förebyggande av brott enkätundersökning psykologiska skalor aggressionsskala egeneffektivitetsskala regression kvantitativ ungdomsutveckling utveckling självutveckling psykologi socialpsykologi övergrepp trauma riskfaktorer skyddsfaktorer townships fattiga område kriminellt område Khayelitsha Afrika Sydafrika Kapstaden skola mindfulness meditation mindfulness meditation Kabat-Zinn framtid motståndskraft aggression störande beteende självförmåga självkänsla självreglering emotionell reglering neurovetenskap statsvetenskap utvecklingsstudier fred och konfliktstudier Uppsala Globalisation Studies Globaliseringsstudier

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A Novel Approach to Youth Crime Prevention: Mindfulness Meditation Classes in South African Townships / A Novel Approach to Youth Crime Prevention : Mindfulness Meditation Classes in South African Townships