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Social Sciences
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Youth Violence and the Urban Response
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Youth Violence and the Urban Response

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Childhood and Youth Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 2005

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Lorece Edwards

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Community Health & Policy, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA
Interests: adolescent health; community violence; structural and social drivers of health; historical trauma; risk research; women’s health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Youth violence is a global public health epidemic and is estimated to affect 193,000 young people on a yearly basis. Alarmingly, violence (firearm homicide) is the leading cause of mortality among youth, especially in the United States. While violence has decreased among some demographic groups, it has escalated among certain subpopulations, particularly in disinvested communities. Violence against/among non-Hispanic Black youth remains a public health concern, with research suggesting that between 45% and 96% of urban youth have witnessed violence in their communities, ranging from assault to murder. Furthermore, 16% to 37% of youth have reported being victims of violence.

Depending on the degree and length of exposure to violence, youth violence can have a harmful effect on young people’s health, resulting in physical harm and serious mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, complex trauma, and an elevated risk of suicide. It can also cause chronic health issues such as cardiovascular disease and disturbed sleep patterns.

Against this background, this Special Issue of the journal of Social Sciences welcomes submissions that critically examine the urban response to youth violence with a focus on the significance and widespread impact of violence among the global population, in addition to social policies, the cycle of violence, the social and structural determinants of youth violence, and evidence-based solutions.

Prof. Dr. Lorece Edwards
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • youth violence
  • urban response
  • public health
  • mental health
  • social determinants
  • structural inequality
  • evidence-based solutions

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 469 KB  
Article
Church-Led Social Capital and Public-Health Approaches to Youth Violence in Urban Zimbabwe: Perspectives from Church Leaders
by James Ndlovu
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(10), 602; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14100602 - 12 Oct 2025
Viewed by 388
Abstract
Youth violence in Zimbabwe’s high-density suburbs has evolved into a severe public-health emergency, entrenching trauma, fuelling substance abuse, and amplifying structural inequities. Christian churches remain the most pervasive civic institutions in these settings, commanding high moral authority, psychosocial reach, and convening power. However, [...] Read more.
Youth violence in Zimbabwe’s high-density suburbs has evolved into a severe public-health emergency, entrenching trauma, fuelling substance abuse, and amplifying structural inequities. Christian churches remain the most pervasive civic institutions in these settings, commanding high moral authority, psychosocial reach, and convening power. However, the mechanisms by which churches mitigate violence, and the constraints they face, continue to be under-researched. Grounded in socio-economic model lens and faith-based social capital theory, this study interrogates the intersections between youth violence and church responses in Zimbabwe’s urban centres. The study adopts a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with church leaders. Twenty (20) church leaders from mainline, Pentecostal, and Apostolic traditions were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling to capture denominational diversity and varying levels of programme engagement. Interviews probed leaders’ perceptions of youth-violence drivers, theological framings of non-violence, practical interventions (e.g., trauma-healing liturgies, anti-drug ministries, peer-mentorship schemes), and institutional constraints such as resource scarcity and political pressures. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings indicate three interconnected mechanisms through which churches mitigate the cycle of violence. Nevertheless, gendered participation gaps, theological ambivalence toward activism, and limited alignment with municipal safety strategies continue to pose challenges to these efforts. By positioning churches within Zimbabwe’s broader violence-prevention ecology, the study offers an empirically grounded blueprint for integrating faith actors into city-level public-health strategies and contributes towards evidence-based, structural solutions to urban youth violence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and the Urban Response)
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18 pages, 273 KB  
Article
Echoes of Violence: Intergenerational Trauma, Fear, and Political Apathy Among Zimbabwean Youth Post-2008 Electoral Violence
by Gilbert T. Zvaita and George C. Mbara
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(6), 327; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14060327 - 25 May 2025
Viewed by 1296
Abstract
Zimbabwe’s 2008 electoral violence created lasting societal impacts, yet the psychological consequences for youth, particularly through intergenerational effects, remain under-explored. This study examines how memories of this violence are transmitted to contemporary youth, including those born after 2008, and influence their political attitudes [...] Read more.
Zimbabwe’s 2008 electoral violence created lasting societal impacts, yet the psychological consequences for youth, particularly through intergenerational effects, remain under-explored. This study examines how memories of this violence are transmitted to contemporary youth, including those born after 2008, and influence their political attitudes and participation. The study employed a qualitative approach in Harare’s Mbare suburb, utilising 20 in-depth interviews and four (4) focus groups, which were analysed through a trauma-informed lens. Findings indicate that youth inherit ‘traumascapes’ from elders, which cultivate fear, silence, and political apathy. Parental warnings and experiences link activism directly to vulnerability, prompting youth to adopt disengagement or performative allegiance as survival strategies amidst structural impunity and socio-economic precarity. Unresolved, intergenerationally transmitted trauma perpetuates cycles of civic disempowerment. The study concludes that post-conflict recovery in Zimbabwe requires moving beyond institutional reforms to prioritise psychosocial healing and demands that transitional justice frameworks explicitly address these inherited psychological wounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Violence and the Urban Response)
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