Abstract

FIGUEROA VAZQUEZ, Lizette T  and  TORRES FEMAN, Irma Aida. Violence: how a group of young mexican university students face and assume it. A qualitative study. Psychol. av. discip. [online]. 2016, vol.10, n.1, pp.69-77. ISSN 1900-2386.

Abstract Due to the multiple problems generated by social violence in Mexico, a new research topic was originated in the Faculty of Psychology in Xalapa (Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico) with the main goal of examining the requirements of psychosocial care wanted and needed by the persons who are affected by this social phenomenon; in order to include these requirements in the curricula of future psychologists. Partial results of the research are presented in this paper, using a qualitative approach. Focus groups with undergraduate psychology students where the applied research method to collect the students experience regarding social violence in Mexico. The sample was intentional, consisting of 16 young people between 19 and 24 years old, eight women and eight men. The discourse analysis of the Focus Groups allowed to classify the collected information. It stands out that 100% of the students had experienced social violence at least once; one third had experienced 2 or 3 events that involved kidnap attempt, armed robbery, witnessing a homicide and/or a shooting and being intimidated by police force. Additionally have been identified two basic ways of response to these violent events: evasion and social organization. Discussion: based on the findings, the pertinence of using the term survivor instead of victim (commonly used in literature) is discussed; since the last one is associated more with a passive response to a violent event.

Keywords : social violence; victims of violence; survivors; university students; curricula.

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