Expectations of presiding officers in the South African criminal justice system of the criminologist as an expert witness
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Date
2022
Authors
Boleu, Kelebogile Portia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
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.
Description
Dissertation (M.A.(Criminology))--University of the Free State, 2022
Keywords
Forensic criminologist, South African criminal justice system, Parsons’ theory of structural functionalism