Township unrest: Development of the Township Life Events Scale

Although unrest is becoming increasingly prevalent in South African townships, there is a paucity of psychological research on the subject. The present article outlines the development of the 42-item Township Life Events Scale (TLES), a measure designed to assess the incidence and impact of township unrest. Internal and temporal consistency are satisfactory. The TLES also shows acceptable convergent and divergent validity. Future research priorities for the TLES and the impact of unrest on workplace behaviour in general are identified.