African Journals Online
Acta Criminologica

Volume 13, Issue 2, 2000
Abstracts

Title: The South African national crime prevention strategy : a critique 
Authors: Naude, B.

Abstract: The South African National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) was launched on 22 May 1996 as a long-term interdepartmental strategy involving various state departments and civil society in order to establish a comprehensive integrated policy framework to address South Africa's crime problems and to develop national crime prevention programmes. It advocates a wide responsibility for crime prevention and a shift in emphasis from reactive crime control towards proactive crime prevention.

Title: Exposure to crime as an indicator of family well-being
Authors: Roestenburg, W.

Abstract: Postapartheid South Africa is going through a period in its history where excessively high levels of crime are being experienced. This "bull-run" in crime is of great concern to citizens as well as those societal systems that have to ensure safety and security. There is also concern about the impact of crime on the core socialisation unit in society, namely the family. The increased potential of being exposed to crime and being traumatized in the process has led to serious concern about the ability of the family to continue with its role as primary socialisation institution. This concern has prompted the author to conduct research on the impact of crime on family well- being. One objective of this research is to establish a correlation between exposure to crime and various social functioning aspects of family life. A second objective is to determine if exposure to crime would be a significant indicator of dysfunction in family life. The argument in this case is to determine a causal link between the independent variable of exposure to crime and the dependent variable of family social functioning.

Title: An empirical evaluation of interactional analysis of serial murder
Authors: Labuschagne, G.

Abstract: In a previous article Labuschagne (2000:23-30) reviewed the criminological relevance of serial murder as well as some traditional viewpoints on crime. An interactional perspective on the phenomenon of serial murder, in which the contextual aspects based on an interview situation between researchers and the individuals in question, was also provided. This perspective represented a move away from traditional methods of focusing on the murders and the individuals in isolation with the inclusion of broader factors, such as the influence of other people. In this review the author follows through on his previous article and reports on empirically evaluated results of an interactional analysis of serial murder.

Title: Violence in South Africa : key factors in the background of young serious offenders
Authors: Wedge, P.Boswell, G.Dissel, A.

Abstract: In the period 1993-94, the first two authors conducted a research project involving a group of violent young offenders imprisoned in England. The sample comprised approximately one-third of those in the custodial population, sentenced as juveniles for offences which, had they been adults, could have attracted a sentence of fourteen years or more. A pilot project was carried out in South Africa, focusing on the backgrounds of young men serving sentences for similar types of offences in order to establish the feasibility of a more substantive study, which would provide some insight into background factors of juveniles committing violent offences in South Africa and offer some recommendations regarding handling and treatment (see Wedge, Boswell and Dissel 2000:16-22).

Title: The international crime (victim) survey in Maseru, Lesotho
Authors: Prinsloo, J.Snyman, R.Kimane, I.

Abstract: The International Crime (Victim) Survey was initially launched in 1989 by the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands and subsequently further developed by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in Rome. It is currently the major empirical international comparative research project in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice with particular emphasis on victimisation all over the world.
Although fifty-eight countries participated in the research, only four Southern African countries had previously participated, namely Botswana, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In the light of this the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI), the Department of Criminology and the Institute for Criminological Sciences (Unisa), as well as the Technikon Southern Africa (Division:Public Safety and Criminal Justice) are collaborating with a view to promoting research and the sharing of expertise in the field of Criminology in Africa. The project has therefore been extended to Lesotho where very little research was previously done in the field of crime and related phenomena.

Title: Theoretical explanations for parent abuse
Authors: Olivier, K.

Abstract: According to Wilson (1996:101) family violence is a relatively new field of study. In earlier times violence was regarded as an acceptable way for adult men to exert power and control over the behaviour of their relatives and dependants. These actions were accepted by law and policy-makers, and it was not until the 1960s that social scientists, psychologists, the medical world and legislature became concerned with the battered child. This manifestation was increasingly documented during the 1970s and 1980s and constitutes acts of violence by adults and/or parents towards minor children (Charles 1986:343; Paulson, Coombs & Landsvlerk 1990:121). During the 1970s professionals began to write about battered women. Paulson et al (1990:121) identify this type of violence as assault and aggression towards adult women by husbands or other significant adult male figures in the family. More frequently clinical observations, research, newspapers and news bulletins started focusing on acts of violence between spouses and adult violence towards children.

Title: A conceptual exploration of fundamental crime prevention
Authors: Deklerck, J.Depuydt, A.

Abstract: The field of crime prevention is full of confusion, characterised by many different actors, approaches, and ideological beliefs. Great differences are to be found, not only on the practical level but also on the scientific level. At both the level of theory and the level of practice, different classifications are often used. At both levels there is no definition available concerning what one understands by 'prevention'. Prevention as a concept possesses something of an elastic quality that enables it to cover a broad range of theoretical premises and practical interventions (Gilling 1997:9). Prevention has developed especially from the sphere of the practical. Attempts to systematise on the conceptual or theoretical level follow practical developments. The theoretical lack of clarity thus reflects crime-prevention practice, a practice interwoven with often very different political and policy objectives.

Title: Farm attacks : Are there any ulterior motives?
Authors: Moolman, N.

Abstract: It is easy to dismiss farm attacks as only another manifestation of the rampant crime in the country but this approach will leave three very important questions unanswered, namely -
Why are these attacks on the farming community so well premeditated while statistics indicate that the overwhelming majority of murders in South Africa are related to alcohol, drug abuse, interpersonal and domestic conflict?
Why are attacks on the farming community so extremely brutal, which again contradicts the situation regarding the majority of other murders in South Africa?
Why are murders on the farming community increasing at such a rapid pace while murder in South Africa in general has been decreasing over the past number of years? (Crime Information Management Center (CIMC) 1998:42).

Title: Characteristics of violent crime victims in an urban community, South Africa
Authors: Peltzer, K.

Abstract: In South Africa the violent death rate is 57 per 100 000 of the population per annum, nearly six times the US rate (Butchart 1996). From survey research high crime rates twice to four times as high as in the US have been reported in South Africa (Lotter 1992). Naud, (1998) found from a victimisation survey in Johannesburg that the following violent crimes were reported to the police: robbery (43 percent), sexual incidents (women only: 27,5 percent), and assault or threat (25,6 percent). Data from Human Sciences Research Council surveys (Glanz 1989: 45) show that the urban black respondents who reported crimes in 1981 reported that they, or a family member living with them, had suffered robbery with violence (8 percent); assault that caused pain and injury (20 percent); and rape (4 percent). Peltzer (2000) found from a study in a rural population in the Northern Province that 28 percent had experienced physical assault, 14 percent crime involving firearms, 12 percent murder of a relative or friend, 10 percent gender violence, and 10 percent (of the women) sexual abuse and rape.

Title: Explaining criminal behaviour according to the psychoanalytic-psychiatric approach
Authors: Ladikos, A.

Abstract: The psychoanalytic-psychiatric approach strongly endorses the view that the prime determinant of human behaviour lies within the person and that after the first few years of life the environment plays a minor role. Psychoanalytic writers view crime as a symptom of disturbing experiences in the intimate relationships of the family during the early years of life. In interpreting criminal cases they focus on one or more personality attributes such as weak ego development, with resulting impulsive acts, gross emotional instability and a lack of guilt feelings.

Title: Victim complicity in vehicle hijacking : a typological perspective
Authors: Davis, L.Theron, A.

Abstract: As a result of various factors contributing to vehicle hijacking no single theory has been developed to explain why a specific person would be targeted as an appropriate victim to be hijacked. Although an integrated approach, which includes various typologies and theories, could be used to direct research on vehicle hijacking, it is preferable from a scientific perspective to develop a typology that focuses exclusively on motor vehicle hijacking and more specifically, victim complicity (Davis 1999:40). Besides the advantage of providing researchers with a classifications system, such a typology could also serve as the basis for eventually formulating a theory (Mouton & Marais 1985:138). The logical first step is therefore to develop a typology that could be used by researchers when studying victim complicity during motor vehicle hijacking. To achieve this aim the typologies of Mendelsohn, Fattah, Schafer and Karmen will be used as a basis.

Title: Prohibition, vigilantism and human rights violations : a South African experience
Authors: Padayachee, A.

Abstract: With the spread of drug trafficking and drug use around the world there has been a concomitant profileration of counter-narcotic policies and programmes world-wide. Prohibition policies and programmes, after years of international crusading, continue to be justified on mainly social and medical grounds and the main "weapon" of these policies continues to be the criminal law. Whilst legislators and policy-makers remain committed to the argument that prohibition policy and regulations are designed to make dangerous human behaviour safe, South Africa, having adopted a pro-prohibition drug policy, has witnessed increased drug trafficking, drug consumption and production, and the rise of a right-wing vigilantism. In response to the 'drug epidemic', South Africa has responded swiftly with amendments to its legislation and the development of a grand master plan - to combat the problem all of which continue to be underpinned by a prohibitionist philosophy.

Title: Outcomes-based assessment : challenges for the teaching of criminology
Authors: Van den Berg, D.De Boer, A.

Abstract: The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Act of 1995 highlights the fact that the nature of learning as well as traditional teaching practices in South Africa necessitates a paradigm shift. Some of the implications of the transitional teaching process for higher education seem to be embodied in the concept of a "learning society". Bellis (1998:1) uses this expression to describe the consequences for individuals involved in a knowledge-driven and knowledge-dependent society where knowledge has become a key factor in shaping the structures and dynamics of their daily lives. Therefore it indicates a decisive transformation from the kind of society where formal learning occurred in a one- off situation to a society in which one has to re-orientate and re-school oneself repeatedly.

Title: Violent and non-violent criminals : biographical variables and family environment
Authors: Schiff, K-G.Louw, D.A.

Abstract: It is a sad reality that South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Especially the nature and incidence of violent crimes elicit great concern (Nedcor Crime Index 1999 - also see http://www.saps.co.za). It is therefore understandable that attempts are being made at various levels and in several domains in South Africa to rectify the situation. However, such attempts do not always succeed and important areas are not always covered. One of the domains that is neglected is research that pertains to violent criminals, especially with regard to the identifiable characteristics that may be used in the prediction and prevention of future violent behaviour.