Youth Violence in Urban Ethiopia: Forms, Risk Factors and Preventive Mechanisms in Hawassa and Shashemene Cities

Abstract

Youth violence negatively impacts physical, emotional, and social well-being, hindering development, decision-making, learning, and relationships. Holistic and interdisciplinary approaches are needed to mitigate this issue. This research aims to investigate forms, risk factors, and preventive mechanisms of youth violence in Hawassa and Shashemene cities. The research utilized a cross-sectional descriptive design with a mixed-method approach. The study included 400 survey respondents, 16 focus group discussants across two sessions, and 7 in-depth interviewees. As the findings reveal, youth involvement in violence spans from perpetration to victimization. Among the total respondents, 289 self-reported that they have perpetrated various forms of physical, verbal, sexual, economic, and media violence within the past 12 months. The primary reported risk factors for youth violence include attitudes that condone violence (64.25%), insufficient parental control (59%), elevated rates of unemployment (67.25%), and a fragile rule of law (81.25%), which respectively represent the leading factor from the individual, relational, community, and societal risk domains as per the social-ecological model. The findings indicate that institutional and community-based efforts to address and mitigate the issue remain in their early stages. The study areas lack nearly all essential elements of youth violence prevention and intervention programs. The study concludes that youth violence is a more visible issue that affects both society and the youth in the study areas. Without preventive efforts, the highlighted risk factors may further increase the likelihood of youth engagement in violence. Thus, the study recommends the establishment of integrated and inclusive programs and strategies to effectively address the problem such as community awareness campaigns, parental counselling services, school-based interventions, and strengthening the capacity of relevant institutions among others