I know that I could have walked away but there were people around there.” Masculinities and fights between boys at a Durban high school

Bibliographic Data

ID12331304
AuthorsVijay Hamlall (0000-0002-2551-5794, School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, corresponding author), Robert Morrell (0000-0002-6096-486X, University of KwaZulu-Natal)
Year2009
Volume23
Issue80
Pages68-79
Publication date2009-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgenda (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1013-0950 • E-ISSN: 2158-978X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10130950.2009.9676242
OpenAlexW1531854283
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

This article draws upon research conducted in a co-educational secondary school. It explores violence among boys by examining the processes which lead from conflict to outright physical violence between two or more boys. The affirmation of peers is critical in maintaining one's status within the school, and this makes the presence of other boys at a site of conflict highly significant. A conflict situation generally has two phases—the first phase involving a boy provoking another and the second involving either escalation to violence or non-violent diffusion of the conflict. Constructions of masculinity are critical in determining whether a conflict turns violent or not. A provocation on its own rarely automatically leads to violence. Both the nature and reception of the provocation are important. Some provocations (for example, using swear words about a boy's mother) are more serious than others. However, some boys are able to avoid violence and in this way affirm alternative forms of masculinity

Criminology · Developmental psychology · Masculinity · Provocation test · School violence · Sociology · Children's Rights and Participation · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender Studies in Language · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology

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