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2014_Nebergall_Dissertation_Final.pdf (1.8 MB)

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Understanding Perceptions Of Risk Among Youth In A South African Township

Nebergall, Michelle L
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1403102512

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Anthropology.
This dissertation project investigated how a sample of youth living in a South African township community perceived and managed the interconnected risks of daily life. The community was conceptualized as a risk environment (Rhodes et al 2005) wherein youth were at elevated vulnerability to HIV through political, economic, and social factors in addition to locally high HIV infection rates. Specific objectives were to examine 1) how youth perceived risk in daily life, 2) how HIV risk in particular was perceived, 3) youth strategies for managing risks, and 4) pilot cell phone based data collection methods. Data were collected in two phases. In Phase 1, focus group discussions, participant diaries and cell-phone based data gathering using SMS and the social network MXit were conducted with a sample of 36 youth. In Phase 2, individual interviews, structured paper-based questionnaires, SMS and MXit data collection were conducted with a second sample of 40 youth. Youth described how concerns about the future and their ability to secure the necessary education and employment to build a better future for themselves and their families were paramount. Youth narratives also revealed hope for the future and described protective factors present in their lives. Findings demonstrate that risks were perceived in terms of both their physical and social consequences. Strategies used to manage risks in daily life included engaging with local health and educational services, focusing on future goals, uniting together to address community issues, and developing supportive, loving and trusting relationships. Risk perceptions and risk management strategies were shaped by each youth’s individual life circumstances and specific contexts within which risks occurred, highlighting the centrality of structural, sociocultural and economic dynamics in mediating youths’ vulnerability and responses to risks in daily life. Findings contribute to anthropological models of risk perception and risk management, specifically the concepts of social proximity and social risk. The syndemic and risk environment models are particularly relevant to understanding findings in this study. Finally, this research contributes to methodological questions concerning the effectiveness of cell-phone based data collection tools in social science research.
Janet McGrath (Committee Chair)
Jill Korbin (Committee Member)
Eileen Anderson-Fye (Committee Member)
Scott Frank (Committee Member)
390 p.
Cultural Anthropology
Adolescence; Youth; Risk Perception; Risk; South Africa

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nebergall, M. L. (2014). Understanding Perceptions Of Risk Among Youth In A South African Township [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1403102512

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nebergall, Michelle. Understanding Perceptions Of Risk Among Youth In A South African Township. 2014. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1403102512.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nebergall, Michelle. "Understanding Perceptions Of Risk Among Youth In A South African Township." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1403102512

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1403102512
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12