[Adolescents and violence. Impact of African traditions and customs on the signification of the law to children in familial, social, educative and judicial practices].
Youth-related violence is a frequent topic of press reports and editorial comment. The most disturbing aspects of the phenomenon are the younger and younger age of delinquents and the greater and greater availability of firearms. While the advocates of an American-style approach of absolute repression clash with those of the educative approach to change aggressive attitudes and young people benefit from their "minor" status, the compelling reality is that all preventive programs have failed flatly. This purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to highlight the important contribution of tradition and custom to channeling youthful behavior in African society today and yesterday through signification and transmission of law in familial, social, educative and juridical practices. The second goal was to identify and define the psycho-relational elements that can be considered as factors promoting violent and self-destructive tendencies in minors of African origin tempted by migration in a society in which social representations inhibit parents and prevent them from conveying the limits of the law in their children.
Mbassa Menick
D
D
Service de Psychiatrie, Hôpital Jamot de Yaoundé, BP 25254, Messa Yaoundé, Cameroun. caspcan@yahoo.fr
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D000349:Africa; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007603:Jurisprudence; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency; D008297:Male; D012924:Social Conditions; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology*