Criminology

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Open Access
Approaches to diversion of child offenders in South Africa: a comparative analysis of programme theories
(University of the Free State, 2010-12) Steyn, Francois; Louw, D. A.; Janse van Rensburg, H. C. J.
English: Diversion of children in conflict with the law has been practiced in South Africa since the early 1990s. From that time, the number of referrals and the scope of programmes burgeoned despite the absence of legislation to regulate diversion. The Child Justice Act (CJA) came into effect on 1 April 2010 and provides measures for assessment, referral and management of children who are eligible for diversion. It also stipulates the options for diversion intervention. This study investigates the theoretical foundations, methods, value and limitations of four diversion strategies, namely lifeskills training, mentoring, outdoor intervention and family group conferencing. Attention is also paid to the interventions’ potential to realise the diversion aims of the CJA. Qualitative methods guided the research, in particular case study designs. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with the providers of the targeted diversion strategies. Programme documentation was also obtained in the form of training manuals and annual reports. In addition, interviews were conducted with Criminology and Social Work lecturers to further explore the theories that guide diversion strategies. Diversion programmes demonstrate particular understandings of the aetiology of child offending. The assumptions they make about the phenomenon to a large extent inform the methods used in the intervention process. Their assumptions include inadequate socialisation and personal abilities, absent and inimitable role models, negative life experiences and trauma, and reconciliation and reparation. Despite their unique assumptions, strategies appear to accommodate a fairly uniform profile of child offender. This raises questions about the assumptions of approaches regarding criminal behaviour vis-à-vis the risk factors they aim to address. Furthermore, parents feature as an important facilitator and inhibitor of diversion intervention. Their disinterest in or absence during significant intervention phases could restrict the outcomes and credibility of diversion programmes. Strategies that accommodate child offenders in groups are seemingly more inclined to exclude parents during the actual intervention. They may also fail to meet the individual intervention needs of participants as programmes are structured around a common goal for the group. Individual approaches, however, lack opportunities for vicarious learning. The time frames of diversion programmes and ad hoc followup procedures appear insufficient to optimally impact on criminal behaviour. Children who engaged in crime must acknowledge guilt for the offence in order to be diverted. Practice suggests that some children abuse the system in attempts to avoid formal prosecution. This could, in turn, compromise accountability which is a central aim of the CJA. Strategies show varying abilities to reintegrate diverted children with their families and communities. Moreover, only approaches that are fundamentally restorative in nature meaningfully involve the victims of offences. The lack of victim participation in diversion strategies fails to give effect to the reconciliation and reparation objectives of the CJA. Stigma stemming from contact with the criminal justice system appears difficult to avoid given the fixed location of service providers and some of the activities participants engage in. Despite these shortfalls, diversion shows promise in dealing with child offenders outside the ambit of formal justice procedures. It also prevents those who successfully complete the programmes from receiving a criminal record.
Open Access
Dimensions, coping strategies and management of school-based violence
(University of the Free State, 2010) Janse van Rensburg, Andries Petrus; Steyn, F.; Foster, H.
School represents a critical phase of an individual’s life. Apart from educational gain, learners are socialised to become productive members of society. Violence in the school environment holds a range of adverse consequences for learners and educators alike. Efforts have been launched across the globe to determine, manage and prevent the complexities of school-based violence. South African institutions have added to this literature, although several aspects of school-based violence remain outside the academic spotlight. Even though the nature and extent of school-based violence has received substantial attention in recent years, studies are marked by methodological differences which make comparisons difficult. Research on coping strategies used by adolescents is still in its infancy. This also pertains to the lack of evidence on factors influencing the use of different strategies, in particular from a gender perspective. Democratic change necessitated changes in the education system, which inevitably had an impact on the manner in which school administrators manage and prevent school-based violence. However, little is known about the disciplinary methods and violence prevention strategies applied by educators, along with challenges they may face in this regard. In order to address these shortfalls, an investigation was launched to ascertain how schools deal with violence, with particular focus on learners’ coping and school administrators’ management strategies. Subsequently, the dissertation set out to describe and explore the nature, extent, coping strategies and management of school-based violence in two schools in Moakeng, Kroonstad, Free State province. The study stems from a partnership between the Centre for Health Systems Research and Development (CHSR&D) and the Department of Criminology (both from University of the Free State), and the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). In order to accommodate different target groups (learners and educators) and different sources of information, a mixed methods approach was utilised. The research design was a partially mixed sequential dominant status design that consisted of a survey and personal interviews. The self-administered survey was conducted among 710 learners with a structured questionnaire, while six educators took part in semi-structured personal interviews. Mixed methods research inherently guarantees a level of triangulation, which promoted the validity and reliability of the data. The results confirm the presence of violence in the selected schools. Higher levels of violence were recorded among the learners when compared to other South African studies. Different types of violence were identified, both between learners and between learners and educators. The causes of violence featured across all six levels of the ecological systems theory model. The study identified numerous long-term consequences for learners who are victimised by school-based violence. Learners applied different coping strategies, although it appears that problem-focused coping was used more often. Little differences were found between male and female victims’ use of coping strategies, with the exception of emotion-focused strategies. In light of the high levels of violence, the results suggest that learners have little confidence in their schools’ administrators to effectively manage and prevent violence. An overall lack of learner supervision in the schools was reported, along with a lack of physical security measures. Educators were found to follow official guidelines relating to disciplinary methods, even though corporal punishment was widely used in the schools. Finally, the schools did not have strong relationships with stakeholders such as the local police and governmental structures at the district and provincial levels. It was concluded that the schools under scrutiny were marked by different types, causes, effects and reactions to violence. Seen broadly, it was identified that 1) learners apply a range of different coping strategies to deal with victimisation in school, which can be perceived as mostly positive, and 2) that educators lacked skills in managing and preventing the violent behaviour of learners. The findings lay a foundation to further explore aspects of school-based violence, ultimately to inform policy and to ensure an environment conducive to learning.
Open Access
Expectations of presiding officers in the South African criminal justice system of the criminologist as an expert witness
(University of the Free State, 2022) Boleu, Kelebogile Portia; Peacock, Robert
A criminologist should not be considered a visitor, but rather a permanent resident of the criminal justice system. Among the role players in the legal system, Dumani (2005: 12) cites criminologists as having substantial potential. The view of criminologists in courtrooms has changed since Terblanche (2007: 23) called for the use of penology experts and criminologists in court. However, in his later edition, Terblanche (2016) discusses the role of criminologists as active role players within the criminal justice system. This study broadly aims to elucidate the role and function of Criminologists within the criminal justice system of South Africa, based on an exploration of the expectations of presiding officers. Criminologists are trained social scientists – who specifically focus on crime, offenders, victims, punishment and also the prevention and control of crime. Their expertise makes them one of the central role players in the criminal justice system, and their knowledge base makes them significant role players as well. The criminal justice system includes various actors who interact with one another to meet the need for equitable justice for all actors in society. Talcott Parsons’ theory of structural functionalism maintains that a social system includes actors who interact with one another in their various roles and functions to support the structure of society. In order for a system to survive, it must engage in four sets of activities aimed at meeting its needs; namely, adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency. The four functional imperatives were applied to enable the researcher to explain the role of the forensic criminologist as an expert witness in meeting an important information goal of the criminal justice system. This study, therefore, theoretically explored and explicated the position of the forensic criminologist in South African law, as well as the legal identity of the forensic criminologist as an expert witness. A qualitative approach was followed to collect, analyse, and interpret the empirical data. The methods used included collecting data through semi-structured interviews, selecting participants by purposive snowball sampling, and, finally, analysing data through thematic analysis to interpret and report the results. A sample size of 10 presiding officers was attainable from both the regional and high courts; most participants identified as African, followed by participants who identified as white and the minority who identified as coloured. Reflecting the broader judiciary, most participants sampled for this study were male, while females represented the minority within the selected sample. The findings obtained during this study indicated that presiding officers perceive criminologists as major role players in reporting the characteristics of the criminal event which include the crime, the offender (individualisation), the interests of society and the victim, and ultimately fulfilling the objectives of punishment, namely, retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Furthermore, criminologists are expected to assist presiding officers in considering vulnerable groups in the criminal justice process, as expert witnesses. Participants in the study highlighted two groups as vulnerable, namely women and children. However, there is still a limited understanding of this complex phenomenon and several grey areas, indicative of a real need to define the various roles of criminologists throughout the criminal justice system and the need for a professional board to manage the participation and actions of criminologists in South Africa. Using the recommendations of this study as a guideline for future research, it is envisioned that with a greater understanding of the role the criminologist plays in an integrated criminal justice system, forensic criminologists will be more accessible to the court and, ultimately, in various roles in the criminal justice system.
Open Access
Forged in secrecy, sealed in blood: the origin, initiation, symbolism, hierarchy and power dynamics within devil-worshipping gangs in the Free State province
(University of the Free State, 2024) Phillips, Ashwill; Cronje, M.
An investigation by the South African Police Service in 1997 led to the discovery of a devil-worshipping group or ‘evil church’ that moved from parts of northern Africa and settled in Maseru, Lesotho. This group allegedly combined elements of the occult with traditional African witchcraft, giving rise to what local communities refer to as ‘devil-worshipping gangs’. Since 2011, these groups have evolved and spread throughout the Free State province, perpetrating crimes which range from murder to organ trafficking and rape. They have gained notoriety for committing ‘spiritually motivated’ crimes that include the consumption of human flesh, ritual stabbings, and purported communication with demonic entities. Despite their infamy, and the fear their gang-related practices induce, not much is known about these youth gangs. Extant research is primarily based on secondary data obtained from service providers and desktop analyses. Their enigmatic nature and complex structures also serve to complicate crime prevention efforts in communities, posing a plethora of social challenges and exacerbating crime rates. Accordingly, a qualitative study was conducted with 39 detained male offenders and 18 service providers to explore the existence of these groups and their unique practices related to initiation, symbolism, hierarchy and occult belief system.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
Perspektiewe van beleidmakers en -toepassers oor die wettiging van prostitusie
(University of the Free State, 1997-07) Scholtz, Marlene; Foster, H.; Schurink, W.
English: Changes in any socio-political system often bring changes in legislation, especially where the debate leans heavily towards moral issues, as is the case with legislation in South Africa concerning abortion. Prostitution falls in the same category, causing considerable conflicting opinions amongst policy makers and implementers. Legislation against prostitution still appear in South African codes of law. However, the entrepreneurs of prostitution see this as a very profitable business, the client of the prostitute depends on his individual rights to engage in the activity of his choice, and the prostitute only wants to do her work. The ongoing debate on the decriminalisation of prostitution spans a variety of aspects about prostitution. Aspects like human rights, the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases, and the principle of morality were all issues of prominence at different times. These arguments are discussed here, as well as perspectives obtained from the literature study on legislation in different countries, the criminality of prostitution, and the sexuality of the prostitute. From the insights gained from the literature study, an empirical investigation was undertaken to get perspectives of policy makers and policy implementers. From these, the conclusion is reached that prostitution is a complex phenomena, that consensus regarding legal policy may not be reached and no easy solution is imminent. A factor that may influence legislation is the increasing emphasis on the responsibility of communities in the process of regulating prostitution. The conclusion drawn is that prostitution should be decriminalised but that more stringent regulatory measures should be implemented.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
The role of criminology in the training of probation officers specialising in the management of young offenders in the Free State
(University of the Free State, 2001-05) Steyn, Francois; Foster, H.
English: During the past few years major progress has been made in legislation, criminal policy and the administration of justice. The transformation of the criminal justice system extended itself to the humane treatment of youths in conflict with the law. By applying the principles of restorative justice, various initiatives and alternatives to imprisonment, such as diversion programmes, have been designed and implemented to deal more effectively with South Africa's young offenders. As such, personnel and officials responsible for the provision of welfare and rehabilitative services (i.e. social workers, probation officers, magistrates, and police and other justice officials) had to re-align themselves in ensuring and securing the variety of services required for the proper and efficient management of youths in conflict with the law. In this regard, the competencies and training of officials responsible for services came under the spotlight. With this in mind, it was decided to undertake research to determine and describe the training that probation officers dealing with youths in conflict with the law require, and specifically what Criminology could contribute thereto. Various international and local authors comment on the role that the discipline has thus far played in probation training, but little research exists as to the scope and nature of such contribution. While pursuing this imperative, probation work's contribution to and involvement in crime prevention and victim support was also explored and investigated. Toward informing these aims and objectives, a total of 38 service providers (i.e. probation officers and social workers) in the Free State and eight lecturers from the Departments of Criminology and Social Work (University of the Free State) were consulted. The study design opted for was predominantly explorative in nature, as little is currently known about the training needs of probation officers working with young offenders. All respondents were purposively selected. Personal and group interviews were conducted with the aid of a semistructured interview schedule, while structured self-administered questionnaires were utilised in gathering data from lecturers. A literature review informed and guided the process of instrument development. The different forms of data collection complemented each other and promoted the validity and quality of the data gathered. The main findings indicate specialised probation training to consist of matters related to the following: court work; report writing; legislature; maintaining registers; reception procedures; assessment and diversion; treatment and intervention; informing and working with youths; aftercare; and programme evaluation. The empirical findings also emphasise that students should acquire sufficient practical experience during formal probation and social work training. Additionally, students should be trained in theories applicable to local probation demands. Furthermore, it was found that probation officers and social workers have an active role to play in crime prevention, mainly due to the nature of probation work, as well as to their theoretical knowledge, practical experience and knowledge about the communities they serve. The findings also indicate that, although victim support services are still inadequate in the Free State, a positive move toward the plight of victims is made since social workers are required to provide victims with support and counselling services. In this regard, victimcentred training is urgently needed. Overall, the research indicates criminology to play a primary role in the training of probation officers specialising in the management of young offenders. Both its theoretical and applied sides are relevant to such specialised training. More specifically, the study fields of crime causation, the victim of crime, the offender, crime prevention and the administration of justice will be instrumental in ensuring the effective management of youths in conflict with the law.
Open Access
Youth in conflict with the law: a criminological exploration of the social factors perpetuating misconduct
(UNISA Press, 2021) Phillips, Ashwill Ramon
In recent years, there has been an upsurge in the quantity of transgressions perpetrated by adolescents, signifying that a considerable proportion of the youth populace experiences a great degree of marginalisation within their social milieu. Moreover, many youths have succumbed to challenges related to academic failure, socio-economic adversity, family turmoil, substance abuse and deviant peer affiliation. Consequently, this impedes their transition into adulthood and dissuades them from evolving into meaningful social actors. Based on this premise, the current study was conducted to explore the socio-criminogenic risk factors which manifest in the family, community, school and peer group domain, through gauging the lived experiences of youth regarding the factors which they most closely associate with their offending behaviour. Data were obtained using a sample of 20 males incarcerated at the Kimberley Youth Development Centre in the Northern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa, and analysed using thematic analysis. Several key factors perpetuating youth misconduct were identified, including antisocial peer-affiliation, gang membership, community disorganisation and illicit substance use. It is thus envisaged that these findings will stimulate further research, contribute to the existing body of knowledge and aid in policy development, with the reduction of conflict as the ultimate aim.

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