Browsing by Author "Thaler, Kai"
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemOpen AccessDrivers of male perpetration of family and intimate partner violence in Cape Town(2011) Thaler, KaiThis paper examines the drivers of male perpetration of violence against adult family members and intimate partners in Cape Town, South Africa. Data on 1,369 young men from the Cape Area Panel Study are analyzed and significant causal pathways are examined for the full sample and for disaggregated samples of African and coloured respondents. Socioeconomic disadvantage plays a role in a culture of patriarchal violence, but its effects are largely mediated by behavioral factors such as routine alcohol consumption and having concurrent sexual partners, and norms of acceptance of violence against women. Different factors emerge as predictors of violence in the African and coloured samples. The findings of the quantitative analysis are illustrated with evidence from 45 qualitative interviews that address the role of violence in family and gender relations in Cape Town. Economic interventions are of uncertain efficacy give South Africa's difficulties since the end of apartheid in improving economic opportunities for the poor; thus interventions targeting norms and behavior hold the most promise for reducing family and intimate partner violence in the near term.
- ItemOpen AccessNorms about intimate partner violence among urban South Africans: A quantitative and qualitative vignette analysis(2012) Thaler, KaiSouth Africa has one of the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the world. In order to combat this violence, it has been suggested that changes in social norms are needed to avoid acceptance of or complacency about IPV. Little is known, though, about variation in norms of acceptance of IPV across gender, race, and different situations. Using survey data from a panel study of young people in Cape Town and qualitative interviews with African township residents, this paper examines variation in acceptance of IPV between African and coloured men and women, as well as the background factors that influence acceptance or rejection of IPV in given situations. Vignette scenarios about IPV perpetration were presented to survey respondents and interviewees who were asked whether or not they agreed with the use of violence in the situation discussed. Acceptance of IPV is found to be highest among African women, with African respondents generally more accepting of violence than coloured respondents. The levels of normative endorsement of violence are lower than those found by studies in other African countries, but higher than those found in a previous national study in South Africa. Exposure to violence as a victim or perpetrator is the most universal correlate of acceptance of IPV, supporting a social learning theory of violence and violent norms. As exposure to violence normalizes it, and may then lead to future perpetration or victimization, shifting norms to convince people of the unacceptability of IPV is a necessary step in breaking the cycle of violence.
- ItemRestrictedSocio-economic conditions and violence in Cape Town, South Africa(Economists for Peace and Security, 2014) Seekings, Jeremy; Thaler, KaiThere is considerable debate over the causes of violence around the world, one which goes beyond the analysis of conflict to consider the dynamics of community behavior and the importance of economic and behavioral factors. South Africa competes with Colombia, Venezuela, and a number of Central American countries for the unwelcome distinction of having among the world’s highest homicide rates, and high prevalence of other forms of violence, including domestic and sexual violence, are also appallingly prevalent. This article presents an analysis of data from a panel of young men in Cape Town. It provides little support for the hypothesis that unemployment is a direct cause of violence against strangers. The impact of drinking (or taking drugs) by adults in the home or by the young men themselves, living in a bad neighborhood, and immediate poverty are associated with violence against strangers, but being unemployed is not. This suggests that few young people in South Africa in the early 2000s come from backgrounds that strongly predispose them against the use of violence.
- ItemOpen AccessSocio-economic conditions, young men and violence in Cape Town(2010) Seekings, Jeremy; Thaler, KaiPeople in violent neighbourhoods attribute violence in public spaces to, especially, poverty and unemployment, but agree that social disintegration, disrespect, drinking and drugs and the weaknesses of the criminal justice system also contribute substantially. However, data from a panel of young men in Cape Town provide little support for the hypothesis that unemployment and poverty are direct causes of violence against strangers. Growing up in a home where someone drank heavily or took drugs is, however, a strong predictor of violence against strangers in early adulthood. A history of drinking (or taking drugs) correlates with perpetration of violence, and might also serve as a mechanism through which conditions during childhood have indirect effects. Living in a bad neighbourhood and immediate poverty are associated with violence against strangers, but being unemployed is not. Overall, heavy drinking - whether by adults in the childhood home or by young men themselves - seems to be a more important predictor of violence than economic circumstances in childhood or the recent past. Heavy drinking seems to play an important part in explaining why some young men have been more violent than others in circumstances that seem to have been generally conducive to rising violence, for reasons that remain unclear. It seems likely that few young people in South Africa in the early 2000s come from backgrounds that strongly predispose them against the use of violence.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Utility of Mixed Methods in the Study of Violence(2012) Thaler, KaiThe study of violence has expanded in recent decades, concurrent with a rise in the use of mixed quantitative and qualitative methods in research throughout the social and health sciences. Methodologists have also begun to engage in a thorough theorization of both the epistemological foundations and empirical practice of mixed methods research. Mixed methods enable us to tie the broader patterns revealed by quantitative analysis to underlying processes and causal mechanisms that qualitative research is better able to illuminate, examining and explicating the interactions of structure and agency. This paper examines how qualitative and quantitative research methods may best be integrated in the study of violence, providing and critiquing examples from previous work on different forms of violence. Through the use of mixed methods, we can both improve the accordance of theories and empirical studies with social reality and gain a more nuanced understanding of the causes and consequences of violence.
- ItemOpen AccessWeapons, violence and the perpetrator-victim nexus in South Africa(2011) Thaler, KaiGiven the high levels of crime and violence in South Africa, there may be a temptation for citizens to arm themselves for protection. Using quantitative survey data from the Cape Area Panel Study and qualitative interviews with residents of high-violence neighborhoods, this paper examines the question of who carries weapons outside the home in Cape Town and what the effects of weapon carrying may be. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the significance of possible drivers of weapon carrying and the results are discussed in the South African social context. Weapon carrying is found to be associated with both assault perpetration and victimization, suggesting that it is part of a violent lifestyle in which weapon carriers are likely to use their weapons both offensively and defensively. Possible weapon-related policies for violence reduction are also discussed.