Youth and Adolescents’ Perceptions of Violence in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The history of South Africa is embedded in violence. Exposure to various forms of violence is a consistent experience of children, adolescents, and young people in this context, negatively impacting various aspects of their lives and overall quality of life. However, these experiences of violence have been narrated from an adult-centric perspective. The current study thus aims to systematically review and synthesis existing empirical studies focusing on youth and adolescents’ perceptions of violence in post-apartheid South Africa. We identified 34 articles that were included in the final review, with study samples ranging from youth and adolescents between the ages of 8 to 27-years-old. The included studies were delineated into three overarching themes using thematic analysis, namely: exposure to violence; gender and sexual-based violence; and interpersonal and school violence. We found several contributing factors that resulted in violence, such as: low socio-economic conditions, hegemonic masculinity, and male entitlement over women; which can be linked to the corollaries of apartheid. At a grassroots level, more research is needed to gain deeper knowledge about how youth and adolescents understand, conceptualise, and contextualise violence through various frameworks. Moreover, violence prevention and intervention requires a collaborative approach to exact meaningful change that will be beneficial for all stakeholders.