Social Sciences

Homelessness remains a neglected and under-prioritized area of policy intervention in South Africa. Without a national policy framework, homelessness is generally overlooked, resulting in intermittent, fragmented and ineffective responses. The lack of attention has contributed to a concerning rise in both at-risk and street-based homeless populations, who continue to face challenges in accessing effective support. Using document analysis, the paper maps the content of six local homelessness policies. The findings reveal that the documents adhere to a rigid and static framework, thereby failing to capture the complex contextual and conceptual factors associated with homelessness. A notable shortcoming is the limited focus on and response to experiences of victimization. Using the Health Policy Triangle (HPT), the paper aligns the key findings with the four dimensions of the framework to advocate for inclusive, protective and victim-sensitive policy recommendations to aid in the development of holistic and humane responses to homelessness in South Africa.

Cross-national public opinion surveys show that a significant majority of young people are frequently exposed to hateful content on social media, which suggest the need to better understand its political implications. This systematic narrative literature review addresses three key questions: (1) Which factors have been explored in political science as the main drivers of hate speech on social media? (2) What do empirical studies in political science suggest about the political consequences of online hate speech? (3) What strategies have been proposed within the political science literature to address and counteract these dynamics? Based on an analysis of 79 research articles published in the field of political science and international relations retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, this review found that online hate is linked to social media platform policies, national and international regulatory frameworks, perceived threats to in-group identity, far-right and populist rhetoric, politically significant events such as elections, the narratives of traditional media, the post-truth environment, and historical animosities. The literature shows that hate speech normalizes discriminatory behavior, silences opposing voices, and mobilizes organized hate. In response, political science research underscores the importance of online deterrence mechanisms, counter-speech, allyship, and digital literacy as strategies to combat hate during the social media era.

Research demonstrates a positive correlation between experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and negative outcomes in emerging adulthood. However, relatively little research has examined the potential effects of ACEs on a common experience in emerging adulthood: dating and establishing romantic relationships. This is especially true for troubled relationships. We extend this literature by examining a potential mechanism that might moderate the association between ACEs and intimate partner violence (IPV): family social capital. A large body of research establishes family social capital as a protective factor for positive child and youth development. We expand this research by examining how studying family systems might inform efforts to prevent IPV. However, the information, obligations, norms, and connections that make up family social capital may have more tenuous relationships with intimate partner violence, especially for people who have experienced ACEs. We developed a model to analyze this interaction using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Add Health is a nationally representative study from the United States that initially sampled 20,745 adolescents in Wave 1. We use demographic and data from Wave 1 and IPV measures from Wave 3 data when respondents are in emerging adulthood (ages 18–26) (n = 15,701). We examine whether family social capital is associated with exposure to IPV, as well as whether family social capital can moderate the relationship between experiencing ACEs and exposure to IPV. Our results suggest some protective effects of family social capital on the emergence of IPV for both maternal and paternal social capital, but that family social capital does not fully moderate the damaging effects of ACEs.