Literature Review: Generating a South African-Based Theory on the Development of Violent Youth Behaviour in South Africa

Abstract

The article is aimed towards guiding the reader along the road I have travelled towards realising the importance of generating South African theories on youth violence for improved violence prevention interventions. The article reflects important insights that I have developed on the way in which the predictability of violence is investigated. These insights revolve around the study of risk and protective factors, the development of models predicting the future occurrence of violence, and theories used to explain the development of youth violence. Challenges identified are that psychological mechanisms are not accounted for when working with risk and protective factors and predictive models, that youth violence is mostly studied under an umbrella term reflecting a collection of youth offences, and that some studies on violent behaviour separate violent behaviour from the context in which it took place. The solution presented is embedded in the generation of theory using the grounded theory methodology, with the aim to redress the challenges to better inform programme theories in prevention programmes for youth violence.