UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Human Sciences
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
PYC3716: Community Psy-
chology: Working for Change
Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
PYC3716
Module Code:
Community Psychology: Working for
Module Name:
Change
Community Challenge, Intervention Project
Assignment Topic:
and Resource Assessment
[Student Name]
Student Name:
[Student Number]
Student Number:
Assignment 1
Assignment Number:
27 March 2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Com-
munity Psychology: Working for Change — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | PYC3716 Community Psychology: Working for Change
A Challenge in My Community
The community I belong to is a township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is a place
with real warmth and tight social bonds, but it carries a weight that most visitors never fully
see: youth unemployment at a scale that has become structural rather than cyclical. This
challenge is the focus of this section.
Description of the Challenge
South Africa’s youth unemployment rate sits among the highest in the world. Data from Statis-
tics South Africa shows that in the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate among those
aged 15 to 24 reached 62.1 percent, while those aged 25 to 34 faced a rate of 40.7 percent
(UNDP, 2023). In my community, these numbers are not abstractions. They show up in the
form of young people who completed matric three or four years ago and have not worked a
single paid day since. They are not lazy. They finished school, submitted applications, and
waited. Nothing came.
The problem runs deeper than a lack of jobs in the general economy. There is a persistent
mismatch between the skills young people leave school with and what employers actually
need (Habiyaremye, Habanabakize and Nwosu, 2022). Most young residents have matric cer-
tificates, but no computer literacy, no financial skills, no practical workplace experience. The
labour market treats them as unqualified, even though they spent twelve years in school. On
top of that, many cannot afford to travel to job interviews in other parts of the city, and few
have adults in their networks who can offer a referral or a foot in the door.
The psychological cost is severe. Long-term unemployment is linked to stress, anxiety, de-
pression, and a reduced sense of agency and self-worth (UNDP, 2023). In my community, this
shows up in young men sitting at street corners with nothing to fill their days, and in young
women who have given up on formal employment and resigned themselves to dependency.
A handful drift toward substance use or petty crime, not because they are bad people, but be-
cause idleness and hopelessness are a dangerous combination. The community feels the
strain; families are under financial pressure, and the social fabric frays a little more each year
that the problem goes unaddressed.
Page 2 of 12
College of Human Sciences
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
PYC3716: Community Psy-
chology: Working for Change
Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
PYC3716
Module Code:
Community Psychology: Working for
Module Name:
Change
Community Challenge, Intervention Project
Assignment Topic:
and Resource Assessment
[Student Name]
Student Name:
[Student Number]
Student Number:
Assignment 1
Assignment Number:
27 March 2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Com-
munity Psychology: Working for Change — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | PYC3716 Community Psychology: Working for Change
A Challenge in My Community
The community I belong to is a township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is a place
with real warmth and tight social bonds, but it carries a weight that most visitors never fully
see: youth unemployment at a scale that has become structural rather than cyclical. This
challenge is the focus of this section.
Description of the Challenge
South Africa’s youth unemployment rate sits among the highest in the world. Data from Statis-
tics South Africa shows that in the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate among those
aged 15 to 24 reached 62.1 percent, while those aged 25 to 34 faced a rate of 40.7 percent
(UNDP, 2023). In my community, these numbers are not abstractions. They show up in the
form of young people who completed matric three or four years ago and have not worked a
single paid day since. They are not lazy. They finished school, submitted applications, and
waited. Nothing came.
The problem runs deeper than a lack of jobs in the general economy. There is a persistent
mismatch between the skills young people leave school with and what employers actually
need (Habiyaremye, Habanabakize and Nwosu, 2022). Most young residents have matric cer-
tificates, but no computer literacy, no financial skills, no practical workplace experience. The
labour market treats them as unqualified, even though they spent twelve years in school. On
top of that, many cannot afford to travel to job interviews in other parts of the city, and few
have adults in their networks who can offer a referral or a foot in the door.
The psychological cost is severe. Long-term unemployment is linked to stress, anxiety, de-
pression, and a reduced sense of agency and self-worth (UNDP, 2023). In my community, this
shows up in young men sitting at street corners with nothing to fill their days, and in young
women who have given up on formal employment and resigned themselves to dependency.
A handful drift toward substance use or petty crime, not because they are bad people, but be-
cause idleness and hopelessness are a dangerous combination. The community feels the
strain; families are under financial pressure, and the social fabric frays a little more each year
that the problem goes unaddressed.
Page 2 of 12
