Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study

Interpersonal violence is a major contributor to the burden of disease globally, and in South Africa, it is the leading cause of injury. There is an emerging consensus that the development of actionable policy and effective prevention strategies for interpersonal violence requires an understanding o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Makanga, Prestige Tatenda, Schuurman, Nadine, Randall, Ellen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Routledge 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26707766/
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4565
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1779905345890549760
author Makanga, Prestige Tatenda
Schuurman, Nadine
Randall, Ellen
author_facet Makanga, Prestige Tatenda
Schuurman, Nadine
Randall, Ellen
author_sort Makanga, Prestige Tatenda
collection DSpace
description Interpersonal violence is a major contributor to the burden of disease globally, and in South Africa, it is the leading cause of injury. There is an emerging consensus that the development of actionable policy and effective prevention strategies for interpersonal violence requires an understanding of the contextual matters that elevate risk for interpersonal violence. The objective of this study was to explore community perceptions of risks for interpersonal violence in five townships in Cape Town, South Africa, with high rates of violence. Focus group discussions were conducted with community members to identify key factors in that contributed to being either a perpetrator or victim of interpersonal violence. The ecological framework was used to classify the risk factors as occurring at individual, relationship, community or society levels. Some of the risk factors identified included alcohol abuse, poverty, informality of settlements and cultural norms. Differences in how each of these risk factors are expressed and experienced in the five communities are also elucidated. This approach enabled the collection of contextual community-based data that can complement conventional surveillance data in the development of relevant community-level strategies for interpersonal violence prevention.
format Article
id ir-11408-4565
institution My University
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Routledge
record_format dspace
spelling ir-11408-45652022-06-27T13:49:06Z Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study Makanga, Prestige Tatenda Schuurman, Nadine Randall, Ellen Cape Town Interpersonal violence South Africa; community perceptions of risk focus group discussions Interpersonal violence is a major contributor to the burden of disease globally, and in South Africa, it is the leading cause of injury. There is an emerging consensus that the development of actionable policy and effective prevention strategies for interpersonal violence requires an understanding of the contextual matters that elevate risk for interpersonal violence. The objective of this study was to explore community perceptions of risks for interpersonal violence in five townships in Cape Town, South Africa, with high rates of violence. Focus group discussions were conducted with community members to identify key factors in that contributed to being either a perpetrator or victim of interpersonal violence. The ecological framework was used to classify the risk factors as occurring at individual, relationship, community or society levels. Some of the risk factors identified included alcohol abuse, poverty, informality of settlements and cultural norms. Differences in how each of these risk factors are expressed and experienced in the five communities are also elucidated. This approach enabled the collection of contextual community-based data that can complement conventional surveillance data in the development of relevant community-level strategies for interpersonal violence prevention. 2021-11-19T10:18:26Z 2021-11-19T10:18:26Z 2017 Article 1744-1692 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26707766/ http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4565 en Glob Public Health, Vol.12 , No.10 : p. 1254-1268; open Routledge
spellingShingle Cape Town
Interpersonal violence
South Africa;
community perceptions of risk
focus group discussions
Makanga, Prestige Tatenda
Schuurman, Nadine
Randall, Ellen
Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study
title Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study
title_full Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study
title_fullStr Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study
title_full_unstemmed Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study
title_short Community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in Cape Town, South Africa: A focus group study
title_sort community perceptions of risk factors for interpersonal violence in townships in cape town, south africa: a focus group study
topic Cape Town
Interpersonal violence
South Africa;
community perceptions of risk
focus group discussions
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26707766/
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4565
work_keys_str_mv AT makangaprestigetatenda communityperceptionsofriskfactorsforinterpersonalviolenceintownshipsincapetownsouthafricaafocusgroupstudy
AT schuurmannadine communityperceptionsofriskfactorsforinterpersonalviolenceintownshipsincapetownsouthafricaafocusgroupstudy
AT randallellen communityperceptionsofriskfactorsforinterpersonalviolenceintownshipsincapetownsouthafricaafocusgroupstudy