Browsing by Author "Van Niekerk, Taryn"

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    A discourse analysis of young adults' discussions of intimate partner violence in dating relationships
    (2013) Barkhuizen, Lauren Ruth; Boonzaier, Floretta; Van Niekerk, Taryn
    Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has focused predominantly on the married or cohabiting adult population in South Africa;; however, IPV also occurs in young adults' dating relationships. The purpose of this research was to explore the discourses young adults at a South African university collectively drew upon in peer-group discussions on the topic of IPV in dating relationships. Six focus groups were conducted with a total of 31 students between the ages of 18 and 26 who were recruited through the distribution of flyers and posters advertising the study at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to identify 3 main discourses in participants' talk on IPV in dating relationships, namely the discourse of 'othering', the discourse of men's authority, and the discourse of women's responsibility. Related sub-discourses were also unearthed, which included the discourse of women as abusive, the discourse of men's sexual entitlement, explanatory discourses on IPV, and the discourse of love and violence. The identified discourses enabled students to simultaneously obfuscate and demonstrate the existence of IPV in the UCT context;; - to talk about IPV as a normal, acceptable and inevitable part of men's authoritative and sexually entitled behaviour in dating relationships and to talk about IPV as women's responsibility bound by constructions of love. Overall, this study has shown how dominant discourses of IPV and gender power inequity amongst young adults might encourage male violence and dominance, and women's victimisation and passivity.
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    Social representation of violence against women in the media: a South African study
    (2014) Isaacs, Dane Henry; Boonzaier Floretta; Van Niekerk, Taryn
    The South African mass media has been recognised as playing an important role in influencing individual understandings of social issues, including domestic violence against women. However, few research studies have exclusively investigated the way in which messages concerning domestic violence against women have come to emerge within the South African media. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore social representations of domestic violence evident in the Cape Argus, Cape Times, and Daily Voice. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six step thematic analysis was used to identify social representations of domestic violence evident in 25 articles that reported on men’s perpetration of violence against women. The analysis suggested that the media in the Western Cape largely promoted distorted social representations of domestic violence in South Africa. For example, domestic violence was constructed as a problem of an unjust justice system, and as an uncontrollable outburst ‘provoked’ by women partners. As a result, responsibility assigned to male perpetrators for their act(s) of violence were lessened, and the possible contribution of wider-societal influences and other sectors of society undermined. Recommendations in response to the findings of the study and for future South African domestic violence research in the context of media representations are discussed.