Youth unemployment and crime in Alex la Guma's a walk in the night : a reflection of contemporary society in Jinja district, Uganda.

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dc.contributor.authorSande, Moses Tanga
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-24T09:15:11Z
dc.date.available2026-09-24T09:15:11Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.descriptionUndergraduate research report
dc.description.abstractThis study examined the relationship between youth unemployment and crime as portrayed in Alex La Guma's novella A Walk in the Night, and assessed the extent to which this literary portrayal reflects the contemporary socio-economic realities of Jinja District, Uganda. Set in the racially segregated District Six of Cape Town during apartheid, La Guma's novella follows Michael Adonis, a young man whose abrupt and unjust dismissal from his factory job sets in motion a chain of events culminating in petty crime, violence and death, illustrating how blocked economic opportunity can push disillusioned youth toward criminality. Guided by the reflection theory of literature and Robert Merton's strain theory of deviance, the study situated the novella within a broader sociological conversation about the unemployment–crime nexus among urban youth. The study adopted a mixed-methods, descriptive case study design combining a close textual and thematic analysis of the novella with a field survey of youth, local leaders and key informants in selected divisions of Jinja District, namely Jinja City, Walukuba, Masese and Mpumudde. Data were collected through documentary/textual analysis, semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions, and analysed using thematic content analysis for qualitative data and descriptive statistics for quantitative data. The study was guided by four specific objectives: to analyse how A Walk in the Night portrays youth unemployment as a precursor to crime; to examine the socio-economic conditions depicted in the novel that mirror real-life urban youth experiences; to investigate the current state of youth unemployment and crime in Jinja District; and to establish the extent to which La Guma's depiction resonates with the lived experiences of unemployed youth in Jinja District. Findings demonstrated that, despite vast differences in historical and political context, the socio-economic pressures dramatized in the novella closely mirrored the lived realities of unemployed youth in contemporary Jinja District, with 80.6 percent of surveyed respondents reporting that the novel's portrayal resonated with their own community's experience. The study concludes with recommendations for literary pedagogy, youth empowerment policy, community practice and further research.
dc.description.sponsorshipDr. Shira Tendo ; Ms. Nakazinga Racheal ; Busitema University
dc.identifier.citationSande, M. T. (2026). Youth unemployment and crime in Alex la Guma's a walk in the night : a reflection of contemporary society in Jinja district, Uganda. [Unpublished undergraduate research report]. Busitema University.
dc.identifier.urihttps://bdears.busitema.ac.ug/handle/123456789/9645
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBusitema University
dc.titleYouth unemployment and crime in Alex la Guma's a walk in the night : a reflection of contemporary society in Jinja district, Uganda.
dc.typeOther
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