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Statistics obtained from both South Africa and the United States of America indicate that the phenomenon of violence amongst youths is increasing. Similarly, the number of adolescents being convicted of and detained for violent crimes such as assault is also on the increase. This implies that a larger number of youths are being exposed to the experience of violence and present with the complex and multi- dimensional effects of such an experience. The phenomenon of violence would appear to be characterised by the juveniles´ experience of external events that would appear to provoke a certain response manifesting itself in violent behaviour. These responses were mostly emotional in nature. Furthermore, the experience of violence holds certain consequences for the male juvenile offender. This work was supervised by Mr. P. Basson.

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Pauline T. Mawson obtained her MA Psychology at the University of Johannesburg in 2008 and is a Clinical Psychologist. She was previously employed at Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital in the Forensic Neurosciences Unit(01/05/2009-30/09/2011)and is now in private practice. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Pretoria.

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