| dc.description.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. | en_US |
