Children's representations of sources of safety in a high violence community

Baillie, Kim Lisa

Children's representations of sources of safety in a high violence community

Master Thesis

2013

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

South African youth are at risk for injury and victimisation and those living in high violence contexts are particularly vulnerable to physical threats. Insight into how children keep themselves safe has immense practical relevance, however little has been documented regarding children's perceived sources of safety. Using the methodology of Photovoice, ten children were recruited from a high violence community to take photographs of "things", "people" and "places" that made them feel safe. Interviews were then conducted with the children about their photographs. Using thematic analysis, photographs were first categorised to identify which sources of safety were most commonly represented by participants. Thereafter, the narratives of participants' photographs were analysed to develop an understanding of how and why these sources of safety were salient. In the analysis of the photographs, public spaces were more frequently represented as safe than private ones. Other children were more frequently identified as sources of safety than adults and there was a prominent concern with physical barriers and home security mechanisms. The analysis of participants' narratives revealed that the above places, people and items afford safety by providing (1) physical security (2) interpersonal connectedness (3) spiritual connectedness; and (4) the improvement of social conditions through the development of infrastructure. These findings are considered in relation to existing literature and recommendations for child safety promotion strategies and for future research are offered.

Description

Includes abstract.

Keywords

Clinical Psychology

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Masters

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