Perceptions of violence among young people in the West Bank: a qualitative investigation

Abstract Background In the scientific literature, violence in Palestinian young people seems to be interrelated with complex factors including the continuous political violence, economic hardship, and mounting stress. This qualitative study was done to provide primary data on the different types of violence and factors contributing to violence that affect young people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Methods Ten focus groups and 17 in-depth interviews were undertaken in young people aged 16–24 years, with a total of 83 participants (42 men and 41 women), who had a mean age of 20 years. Purposive sampling was used to include young men and women (aged 16–24 years) from urban, rural, and refugee camps located in the north, middle, and south of the West Bank. Qualitative analysis was done using NVIVO version 9. Findings Several participants perceived that violence is widespread with nine focus groups and seven people interviewed mentioning physical violence of some type. Additionally, six focus groups and six interviewees mentioned verbal or emotional harassment and violence, ten focus groups and three interviewees described sexual abuse, harassment, or rape. Girls mentioned that sexual harassment mostly happened in streets, taxis, at work, schools, and universities. The most common explanatory models used by youth respondents to account for violence were: individual predisposition (in seven focus groups, two interviewees), family disintegration and dysfunction (seven focus groups, 49 interviewees; mostly related to domestic violence), stress from the Israeli occupation (seven focus groups, 49 interviewees), and Palestinian cultural norms that might lead to the oppression of women (five focus groups, one interviewee) that is mostly associated with harassment and sexual assault. Interpretation Violence among young people in the occupied Palestinian territory seems to be a complex manifestation of several political, economical, cultural, and sex factors, and is far from limited to violence directly associated with Israeli occupation. The extent and diversity of violence need further study to help to estimate the prevalence of risky behaviours and design relevant policies and programmes. Funding National Institute of Health