Anggie Wiyani22 years old

Indonesia

Interpersonal Violence Affects Youth Development

Earlier on March this year, Indonesian news filled with the report of a finding of a dead body on the side of a toll road. Surprisingly, Ade Sara, later known as the identitiy of the corpse, a 19-year-old college student, was a victim of a masterminded murder out of jealousy. Her ex-boyfriend, Hafitd, and his current girlfriend Assyifa, are suspects of the murder and could face at least 20 years in prison or even death sentence if proven guilty.1

Preliminary questioning by the police discovers Hafitd was upset with Sara because she refused to speak with him regardless his effort to maintain communication, while Assyifa was insecure with Sara’s presence that she may rejoined with Hafitd as a couple. They both set up a meeting with Sara then tortured, electrified, and stranggled her to death. Those kind of actions belongs to the category of physical violence, one of four types of violence based on which violence may be inflicted. Moreover, the attempted murder counts as interpersonal violence, one of three sub-types of violence according to the victim-perpetrator relationship.2

The aforementioned story has shown how violence in youth occurs in a daily basis, by anyone either formally educated or not, with any kind of motive, anywhere in the world. It may result in a tendency to repeat the violence, eagerness to revenge by the victim, and thus a vicious cycle is established, furthermore reducing the quality of life of the people involved, merely in physical activites and psychosocial. This is a serious issue we have to tackle together in order to prevent it because it could lead to mental health illness.

We can see that interpersonal violence could lead to mental health illness because it may result in altered or damaged anatomy and/or physiological of someone. Then the experience of violence may be recorded by the victim as a traumatic one and progressively put him in a state of mental disorder, whilst many countries are still lacking in awareness of mental illness and have minimum facility in order to prevent and treat it.

1 The Jakarta Post. Student murdered allegedly out of jealousy | The Jakarta Post. 7 March 2014. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/03/07/student-murdered-allegedly-out-jealousy.html (accessed April 13, 2014).

2 Krug, E.G., et al. World Repot on Violent and Health. WHO Publication, Geneva: World Health Organization, 2002.

If there were many untreated cases of mental health illness which happens to be a result of interpersonal violence, youth development towards a future generation leaders and workforce could be affected. Those affected youth will have trouble continuing their education, adapting in workplace, or even maintaining a healthy condition. Many young people would focus more on treating their illness than think globally about the future of the world. Progressively it will generate a generation which lacks of understanding and addressing global issues. Therefore, interpersonal violence should be prevented by giving proper education since childhood.