Enablers and inhibitors associated with the willingness to participate in child safety initiatives

Abstract

Safety is a priority in South Africa, a country with amongst the highest recorded rates of violence and injury, with children a vulnerable group. The greatest opportunities for reducing the burden of violence and injury amongst children lies in the prevention of harmful environments and situations. Information on the psychosocial inhibitors and enablers of child safety promotion interventions are required to enhance and assure the efficacy of interventions. The determination of context-specific information is expected to be of considerable benefit to community uptake and impact of safety interventions. The primary aim of this study is to determine the factors that enable or inhibit the willingness to participate in child safety interventions. This qualitative study is located in a historically marginalised and under resourced community consisting of low-cost government housing and backyard dwellings and situated 4km outside of Strand in the Western Cape, South Africa. Eleven interviews were conducted with long standing community members who had either attended, had knowledge on, or experience of child safety initiatives conducted in their community. The study utilised a thematic analysis within a Person-Process-Context-Time theoretical framework. The findings indicate that willingness to participate is influenced by multiple and interconnected enablers and inhibitors. The personal, relational and environmental factors included: muted individual agency (comprised of hopelessness and struggling alone, scepticism, and experiences with daily living struggles); community care provision (limited community connectedness, care and concern for children, and neighbourliness); and structural, physical and social constraints (Catch-22 priorities, unequal power relations, and physical community impediments).