Factors leading to premature deaths of male youths in predominantly Roman catholic church Karuri village, Kiambu County: Christian liberation approach

Abstract

There is a challenge that the male youths are confronted with that is threatening many of them to useless and hopeless living, subjecting a considerable number of them to unfortunate premature deaths. As it currently stands in Karũri Village Kĩambu County, the premature deaths of male youths is a problematic scenario that poses disturbing questions like: Why the phenomenon of parents burying their male youngsters in large numbers and not vice versa? How come this unfortunate occurrence is prevailing in an area which is predominantly Roman Catholic in faith affiliation? This Study therefore set to investigate the factors leading to premature deaths of the male youths in the predominantly Roman Catholic Karũri Village Kĩambu County using the Christian Liberation Approach. The Study employed the descriptive survey research. Purposive sampling was used to select the sample of two priests and six administrators. A sample of twenty parents and sixteen male youths was selected using the judgmental and snowball sampling method respectively. The Study employed questionnaires and structured interviews as instruments for primary data collection. Secondary data was collected from various relevant sources. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data. This Study is guided by two theories i.e. mediation theory of L. Boff and C. Boff as well as redaction criticism theory propagated by Biblical scholars like G. Bornkamm, W. Marsen and E. Kasemann. A key finding of the Study was that alcohol is the major cause of premature deaths among the male youths in Karũri Village while unemployment is one of the serious challenges confronting them. The Karũri family is in crisis- the role of the parents, especially the father is wanting and the youths feel unloved. The rapid social change in the society brought about by modernization has had a profound negative influence on the male youth leaving many secularized. The families in Karũri hope that the Church will accordingly devise innovative methods of youth apostolate. The Study, therefore, recommends that parents should effectively play their parenting role with the full understanding that first and foremost the male youth’s upbringing ought to be carried out in the context of the family setting, since it prepares him to face the future responsibly. It is also recommended that the Church reviews Her approach to the youth ministry and that the Lay Christian get involved in the welfare of the challenged male youths in Karũri within and outside the Church to do justice to the image of the Church as the “Family of God.