Catapulted Into Democracy: South African Adolescents' Sociopolitical Orientations Following Rapid Social Change

In this article, we explore the effects of the political transformations in South Africa on the orientations of adolescents to these changes. The study was conducted between 1992 and 1996. This period includes the first negotiations toward a new political dispensation for the country, the first democratic elections of April 1994, and the first few years of post‐apartheid democratic governance. Informed by generational and life span approaches, this study examined some effects of these changes on 14‐ and 17‐year‐old adolescents. These adolescents grew up in racially segregated South African communities, which had different experiences of the transformation process because of their position in the apartheid racial caste system. Results indicate that the separate and differential life circumstances created under apartheid powerfully shaped orientations to the changes in South Africa since 1994. All the adolescents expressed strong concern with the future. White adolescents in particular were alienated from many of the changes that have taken place, while Black African adolescents were generally positive. Those of Indian and mixed racial descent showed a variety of responses, but were also frequently negative or ambivalent. In addition, perceived differences in the society at the two times of measurement generally had more powerful influences on the participants' orientations than did age.