Browsing by Author "Kelly, Jane Frances"

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    Narratives of gang desistance amongst former gang members
    (2018) Kelly, Jane Frances; Ward, Catherine L
    Gangs are found all over the world, including South Africa. In Cape Town specifically, gang involvement is a critical problem in need of intervention. Despite this, little research has explored the perspectives of former gang members on leaving and staying out of the gang. Understanding how and why individuals desist from gangs has important implications for policymakers, the criminal justice system, and in the development of effective interventions, which is particularly important in low- and middle-income countries like South Africa, where very little is known about desistance from gangs, and where economic and other conditions that may lead to gang involvement are different from those in high-income countries. Drawing on a narrative theoretical framework as well as the theory of critical realism, this research sought to examine how former South African gang members understand and make sense of their desistance from gang involvement, focusing on exiting the gang life as well as maintaining a reformed lifestyle after exiting, despite the challenges this may present. Two rounds of life history interviews were conducted with twelve former gang members from a Cape Town community with a high prevalence of gangsterism. Thematic narrative analysis was used to analyse the interview data. Findings revealed that the participants’ narratives of desistance focused on a profound transformation in identity in which they moved away from the hardened, stoic gangster identity and embraced a more prosocial identity, such as that of a positive role model in the community. This transformation was a process punctuated with key turning points (such as incarceration or becoming religious) that prompted active reflection on the gang life and contributed to their decision to desist. The participants’ narratives also focused on their agency in the desistance process, which included forming a purposive intention to change their lives, committing to and maintaining this change, in spite of challenges they faced (for example, a relapse into drugs), taking personal responsibility for their pasts and striving for more independence in the future. Importantly, it also involved actively drawing on protective resources (such as meaningful and practical support from loved ones and religious belief systems) and prosocial identities (for example, being a caring husband and father) available to them within their environments, thus illustrating how the desistance process is an interaction between inner and outer resources. Therefore, it is imperative that interventions that assist desisting gangsters are targeted not only on an individual level, but a contextual level too, ensuring that individuals have access to the kinds of resources in their environment that will support their desistance.
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    Social representations of alcohol use among women who drank while pregnant
    (2014) Kelly, Jane Frances; Ward, Catherine
    Despite the fact that some of the highest rates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) in the world have been reported in the Western Cape of South Africa, little research looks at the experiences of pregnant women who consume alcohol and what influences their alcohol use. Gaining insight into the social, psychological and contextual processes that contribute to risky drinking during pregnancy will help in guiding interventions that aim to prevent prenatal alcohol use, thereby preventing the occurrence of FASDs. Using both social representation theory and a discourse analytic approach, fourteen narrative episodic interviews were conducted in a Western Cape community with women who consumed alcohol during their pregnancy, and two focus group discussions with 13 members of the pregnant women’s community. Data collection aimed to elicit how these women and community members constructed and made sense of alcohol use. The interview and focus group data was analysed using thematic decomposition analysis. Alcohol use was represented by many participants as a social activity which was heavily influenced by their peers. Implicit in this representation was the notion that heavy drinking was a norm within this study community and offered one of the only ways in which to socialise. However, some participants also represented alcohol use as an individualised activity by constructing a clear boundary between drinking socially with friends and drinking to become inebriated. Although drinking during pregnancy was represented as a stigmatised activity, it was also understood by the pregnant women and community members as a way of dealing and coping with difficult domestic problems, such as infidelity. Furthermore, it was also represented as contributing to problems in the participants’ lives as well as unwanted changes in their behaviour. For some interview participants the problems they faced, reservations they held about their pregnancy and becoming a mother, and the social nature of drinking in their community may have inhibited their ability to stop drinking during their pregnancy. For other participants access to some form of social support, a level of responsibility-taking and a desire to protect the fetus from harm as well as care for and look after their children seemed to contribute to their ability to give up drinking while pregnant. Future interventions should take the social context of alcohol use into account, and rather than ignoring it – as most interventions do – use it to not only shift the social norms that surround heavy alcohol use, but also to support pregnant women to stop drinking. Prevention and intervention initiatives should also take a non-judgemental and supportive approach that focuses on capitalising on the moment of pregnancy and on teaching psychosocial skills that enable pregnant women to manage their problems effectively.