First year male students' personal experiences of senior male students' aggression in residences

MEd (Learner Support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014This qualitative research study explores and describes first year male students’ personal experiences of senior male students’ aggression in residences. In recent years, the aggressive behaviour of male university students has become a matter of concern for university staff. The aims of this study were (i) to explore and describe the nature of aggression as experienced by first year male students in the residences; (ii) to explore how first year male students’ experiences of aggression influence their day-to-day lives; (iii) to explore and to gain an understanding of how first year male students feel about living in the same residences as senior male students; and (iv) to make suggestions to assist first year male students to cope with aggression in residences. A qualitative design situated within an interpretive paradigm and employing a phenomenological approach to inquiry was employed in order to achieve the aims of the study. The research focused on exploring, understanding and describing the lived experiences of particular first year male students; the study was thus explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. A purposeful random sampling strategy (Patton, 2002) was used to select the sample of first year male students who live in on-campus residences at the North West University (NWU) Potchefstroom campus to participate in this research study. A number of ethical requirements were met in this research study: approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the NWU Faculty of Education Sciences (Potchefstroom campus); and permission to conduct research was obtained from the Dean of Students on the (Potchefstroom campus), wardens of nine on-campus residences, the student council representative chairperson (SRC) and the residence primarius (chairperson) of each residence. In addition, participants’ interests were protected by ensuring their anonymity and obtaining their informed consent in writing before the research data generation process began. Visual ethics were strictly observed in taking the photographs which were used during the data generation process. The data generation process consisted of two phases: (i) photo-narratives (written) and (ii) photo-narrative-elicitation-interviews. Data saturation occurred after the fourteenth photo-narrative-elicitation-interview. The data analysis of the generated data was done by means of interpretative phenomenological analysis (Griffin & May, 2012). After a consensus meeting with independent coders, the two main themes that emerged were clarified. Theme 1: first year male students associate senior male students’ aggression in residences with feelings and emotions that vary from indifference to negativity, but they remain optimistic about the outcome of living with them. Theme 2: first year male students suggest strategies to cope with experiences of senior male student aggression in residences. In the last chapter, the researcher provides suggestions that could help first year male students to cope with senior male students’ aggression in residences. Limitations of this research study are also discussed and recommendations are made for further research.Master