Research into School Violence and Prostitution Results in Social Science Degrees

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Ms Thandanani Ngidi and colleague Ms Nomakhosi Sibisi have been awarded Honours and Master’s degrees respectively in Social Sciences.

Ngidi got her degree for research she did on migration, urbanisation and adolescent prostitution, while Sibsi attained her qualification for a study on school violence in South Africa.

Ngidi identifies adolescent prostitution as one of the most crucial debates of contemporary social discourse. She established a causal link between migration, urbanisation and adolescent prostitution, exploring arguments that support claims connecting urban cities with deviant behaviours, which become rampant among adolescent girls, resulting in some of them becoming prostitutes.

Drawing on the tenets of lifestyle exposure and routine activity theories, settlements of rural-urban dwellers were described as settlements of decadence breeding various crimes as well as being locations where youngsters became involved in deviant behaviour.

Ngidi also noticed a new form of prostitution, which involved young girls, especially higher institution students, being lured by older men (blessers).

She said: ‘The improvement of urban settlement social conditions, provision of employment opportunities and tackling large scale poverty will reduce the rate at which young girls engage in prostitution and consequently curb the spread of HIV infections.’

Said Sibisi: ‘Over the past year many authors focused on how school violence affects learners and their capability to perform well at school, ignoring the fact that educators are also affected by school violence.

Sibisi’s study examined the effects of school violence on educators - those directly and indirectly affected by violence within a school, those who have witnessed incidents of violence at school and those who victims of violence within the school.

‘This research was conducted at Fairvale Secondary School in Wentworth in Durban. Wentworth is well known for gang-related violence and its high crime rate. Learners from this area reported behavioural problems due to the community they live in,’ said Sibisi.

Her research findings reveal that ‘a school does not exist in a vacuum but it is part of broader society. Schools situated in an area with a high incidence of violence are more likely to have incidents of school violence. Educators suffer from a number of different psychological and physical effects due to their exposure to violence on a regular basis.'   

Melissa Mungroo