Hope and Child Well-Being in the context of Community

Violence

S. IsaacsS. Savahl

Department of PsychologyUniversity of the Western Cape

Cape TownSouth Africa

2001 – in response to the need for more accurate and relevant data on the state and well-being of South Africa’s children and the absence of effective measuring and monitoring initiatives – key child rights researchers embarked on a range of evidence based initiatives

Institute for Child and Family Development (UWC) supported by UNICEF, British Council and the National Development Agency, embarked on project developing indicators of well-being using child participation methodology

Project was conducted in two provinces and included 400 child participants between the ages of 9 – 17

Data collection followed a sustained contact model and incorporated a skills development component, over a 6 month period

Genesis and conceptualisation

1. Participants unanimously regarded personal safety and security as the most significant indicator of well-being

2. Hope emerged as the pervasive theme in discursive activity of participants and was regarded as an important determinant of well-being

Key Emerging Themes

What have we got to look forward to? If we finish Matric, get pregnant, get hooked on drugs…might as well start now… (Urban Group 1)

How do we escape this… every day gang fights, drinking, drugs, this is our life, that’s all there is for us… there’s no hope for us… (Urban Group 7)

yes, you kind of inside you in this little umm like a box in this thing and there’s no way out because you the only one in the box and that’s how we feel when you constantly have to face these things that we can’t do anything about and you the only one there at the moment… (Urban Group 3)

Child Indicators Project Ideologic

al Constructions of

Childhood

Influence of hope on

the relationship between exposure

to community violence

and children

and adolescen

ts’ perceptions of well-

being

Hope and Well-being in the context

of community violence: A qualitative exploration

Safety and

security as a key dimension of child

well-being

Influence of self-esteem

and social support on the

relationship between exposure

to community violence

and adolescen

ts’ perceptions of well-

being

Child’s life-world in many of our communities is characterised by violence

While violence no longer has a socio-political manifestation, it undoubtedly has a socio-political genesis with interpersonal, community, domestic manifestations to a large extent informed by Apartheid and colonial policies.

Key drivers of violence are social inequality, poverty, unemployment, patriarchal constructions of masculinity, substance abuse, intergenerational cycling of violence (Seedat et al, 2009)

The context of violence in South Africa

Between 2008 – 2009 approx 50 000 children were victims of

violent crimes (SAPS)

Between 2009 – 2010 this figure rose to 56 500 (SAPS)

Individuals younger than 19 yrs accounted for 10% of all

deaths

19% victims between the ages of 0 – 10

29% of all sexual abuse cases are against children aged 0 –

10

Crime and violence against children in South Africa: Key facts and figures

Hope and Well-being in the context of community violence: A qualitative exploration

Serena Isaacs, Shazly Savahl

Defining “Hope”

Hope◦ a “cognitive set involving the beliefs in one’s

capabilities to produce workable routes to goals (the pathways component) as well as the self-related beliefs about initiating and sustaining movement towards these goals (the agency component)” (Snyder et al., 1997, p. 401)

◦ Hope is centred in the cognitive ◦ Emotions are seen as a consequence of cognitive

processes regarding goals

Hope: Key literature Gilman, Dooley and Florell (2006):

◦ The relationship among adolescent students’ level of hope and various academic and psychological indicators of school adjustment was investigated in a quantitative study

Low levels of hope: ◦ irregular school attendance, ◦ behaviour◦ dropping out of school ◦ academic achievement

Edwards et al. (2007) ◦ validated the children’s hope scale.

Hope correlated positively: ◦ positive affect, life satisfaction, ◦ Family/friend support and optimism.

Aims and Objectives

AimThe aim of the research study was to ascertain

adolescents’ perception of community violence exposure and the extent to which those perceptions influence their sense of hope

Specific Objectives• To ascertain how adolescents understand and give

meaning to community violence.• To determine the way in which adolescents

understand and give meaning to hope within the context of community violence.

• Participants• Purposively selected based on specific criteria• 14-15 years of age• Lived in a high violence area (selected on the basis of police statistics) • Selected from a high school within the area• 6 males and 8 females (14 participants)

• Procedures• Data Collection• 2 focus groups (3 males/4 females)• Conducted in both English and Afrikaans

• Data analysis• Analysed by thematic analysis as Braun and Clarke (2006)

• Ethical Considerations• Voluntary participation: all participants and parents given information

letter• Signed consent/assent forms• Confidentiality ensured

Method

The meaning of hope within a context of community violence: From faith to the future

Hope is “wishing,” “your values,” “self-esteem.” Linked hope to the future & motivation Hope is strongly connected to

religion and faith

Offer solace during challenging times Gives one patience and endurance Hopelessness, even in the face of adversity, served no

purpose

“Something one would like to have happen”“It motivates you ja...passed the negative side.”

“You’re used to it already so if I get robbed you don’t worry anymore

because you know tomorrow the same

thing is going to happen

Hopelessness, was connected to people who commit crimes and even suicide

Participants all had a vision for their future – knew their interest in their prospective careers

Violence in their community seemed to inspire them to do better

FR: I see myself overseas.

MR: I see myself studying

FR: Beauty therapistMR: Civil

engineeringMR: IT

“It gives you, not more power, but it motivates you. It gives you more

motivation.”

Limitations of study

Age group of participants Definition of hope needs to be

explored/expanded further

Implications for child well-being

They have a socialised understanding of violence, it’s causation, perpetuation and consequences.

Violence removes adolescents’ sense of power and control – attempt to regain it by perpetuating violent acts

A strong connection was made between hope and faith/religion

Adolescents also connected hope to the future and had a vision for themselves in the future

Fostering a sense of hope in adolescents very important Adolescents indicated both directly and indirectly that

their exposure to violence did not negatively affect their vision of the future or their perceived sense of hope

An investigation into the influence of hope on the relationship between exposure to community

violence and children and adolescents’ perceptions of well-being

Shazly Savahl, Serena Isaacs, Candice Rule, Rose September and Sabirah Adams

Our focus is on exposure to community violence, with the literature suggesting the following:

Internalising problems: PTSD, fear and anxiety, depression, low self-esteem

Externalising problems: violent and aggressive behaviour, sleep disturbance, anti-social behaviour, poor academic functioning, substance use

Effects of exposure to violence on children is well researched

Social support

Social supportQuality of Family Relationships

Parenting Peer relations

Neighbourhood qualityGender

AgeIndividual Characteristics

Hope?

Protective and risk factors similarly well researched:

Is exposure to violence a predictor of child well-being

To what extent does the construct of ‘hope’ moderate or mediate that relationship

Research question

A 3rd variable acts as a mediator when it transforms the predictor or input variable in some way. The 3rd variable is the mechanism through which the predictor variable affects the output variable

Mediator variable

ECV(Predictor)

Well-Being

(Output)

Hope(Mediator)

A 3rd variable acts a moderator when it affects the direction or strength of the relationship between the predictor and output variable. It is also referred to as the buffering variable

Moderator Variable

ECV(Predictor)

Well-Being

(Output)

Hope(Moderator)

Design: Pearson Product Term Regression Sample: 568 adolescents 14-15 yrs 348 females and 218 males Selected from 6 Schools (stratified random

sampling) in the EMDC South Instrumentation:

◦ Kidscreen 52: Child Well-Being Scale (52 items)◦ Recent Exposure to Violence Scale (22 items)◦ Child Hope Scale (6 items)

Method

Linear regression to determine if ECV significant predictor of well-being

Result: Negative moderate but significant relationship between ECV and child well-being. Increased ECV predicts a decreased level of well-being

Results

Pearson Product Term Regression to determine if Hope mediates or moderates the relationship

Results: Hope did not significantly mediate the

relationship Hope significantly moderated the

relationship

Results

Confirms the influence of hope as protective or resilience factor

Hope should be seriously considered in prevention and intervention strategies

Sense that hope could disrupt intergenerational cycling of violence

Hope is unfortunately a volatile construct and persistent negative engagements could erode any positive influence

Speculation that hope interacts with other protective factors

Multi-systemic therapeutic intervention models

Implications

Standardise Hope Scale for South African context

Standardise Exposure to Violence Scale for South African Context

Explore the nature of the pathways between these and other variables using SEM (Partial Least Squares)

Directions for future research