Research Articles (Criminology)

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Browsing Research Articles (Criminology) by Author "Maritz, Leanné"

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    Gang sub-culture: an exploration of youth gangs in the Free State province
    (Criminological Society of Africa (CRIMSA), 2015) Phillips, Ashwill Ramon; Maritz, Leanné
    The concept of gangs has existed since the dawn of early Roman society (circa 753BC), where youths formed unique social groups in conflict with generally accepted societal norms. The concept 'youth gang', however, only originated in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries with the phenomenon of vagabonds. Throughout the ages, history shows that whenever societies are undergoing large scale socio-political and economic turmoil, there is usually an upsurge in the number of displaced youth seeking alternative means of survival, especially in a surrogate group context. Despite this vulnerability, there is a dearth of research pertaining to the crime and victimisation patterns associated with gang formation within the Free State region of the Republic of South Africa. Gang-related activities in the province are rife, and gangs, such as the Dickies, Dogs of War (DOW), Triple 6 (666), Born to Kill (BTK), International Junior Portuguese (IJP) and Natural Born Killers (NBK) are running rampant. These groups tend to conform to the commonly held beliefs of street gangs found in the literature, however in certain circumstances also include elements of the occult and African witchcraft. Since little is known about this new type of gang formation, this study provides an explorative account of these groups, primarily informed by a documentary analysis of the South African Police Service.
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    Rethinking occultism and crime: satanism, the occult and youth gang subcultures in the global and South African context
    (Criminological Society of Africa (CRIMSA), 2018) Roelofse, Cornelis; Phillips, Ashwill Ramon; Maritz, Leanné; Petrus, Theodore
    The relationship between occultism and crime has often been explored in the criminological literature within the context of ritualistic crimes. In many instances, such crimes have been linked to Satanism and the occult (in its various guises). In the United States (US), Perlmutter’s (2004) text on religious terrorism and ritualistic crimes sought to provide some insights into the ritualised context of occult-related crimes and identified various subgroups whose criminal activities are underpinned by specific religious and ritualistic beliefs and practices. In the South African context, various scholars have explored occult-related crimes ranging from Satanism-related crime to African witchcraft-related crime. However, in the South African context, little work has been done on the relationship between the occult and crime within the context of youth gang subcultures. This discussion seeks to contribute to this under-researched issue by arguing for a rethinking of occultism and crime. It is argued that the emergence of occult beliefs and practices among youth gangs in South Africa necessitates a new way of approaching the occult and crime relationship, one that seeks to apply perspectives on this relationship to gang subcultures. This suggested rethinking of the occultism and crime relationship is timely, especially considering the apparent rise in occult-related dynamics among youth gang subcultures in South Africa and elsewhere.