African Journals Online
Acta Criminologica

Volume 13, Issue 3, 2000
Abstracts

Title: What cannot be endured must be cured : untying the gordian knot of violence in South African schools
Authors: Maree, K.

Abstract: Alarmist as it may sound, some South African schools are increasingly beginning to resemble war zones. Almost on a daily basis new reports appear regarding the escalation of violence in schools. Furthermore, there seems to be a "spectacular" lack of decisive leadership in the war against runaway crime in schools. It has become clear that all schools are not free to teach and all pupils not free to learn.

Title: Professional attitudes regarding child sexual abuse : a comparison between the police, magistrates and child line counsellors
Authors: England, R.Collings, S.

Abstract: Professional groups involved in the management of child sexual abuse have been found to ascribe to different views regarding crucial issues such as offender management, the seriousness of abusive acts, and the nature/psychological consequences of abuse (Craft & Clarkson 1985; Kelley 1990; Saunders 1988; Trute, Adkins & MacDonald 1992; Wilk & McCarthy 1986).

Title: Attitudes of male and female police officers towards the role of female police officers
Authors: Bezuidenhout, C.Theron, A.

Abstract: The protection of individuals and property has been the responsibility of males throughout the ages. In the early civilisations the heads of families regulated the behaviour of their members. Later with the development of extended family systems and communities a male or a number of males were chosen to ensure the safety of the group. In other words, there was always a male at the head of the family or group and it was under the leadership of either the father (patria potestas), the familial patriarch (parens familiae) or the head of the community (parens comuniae) that strict behavioural codes were enforced (Brown, Esbensen & Geis 1998:177).

Title: Preparations towards the development of a crime-prevention strategy for local government
Authors: Moolman, N.

Abstract: The few sentences in the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS 1996:85) regarding the role of local government in crime prevention, might give the impression that the compilers of the NCPS disregard the importance of a bottom-up approach in the implementation thereof. A closer look, however, reveals that this is not the case and that, in order to give substance to the NCPS, it is of the utmost importance that local authorities should become involved in the process of crime prevention. Local authorities, in fact, have a responsibility to initiate crime prevention strategies in their communities.

Title: Secure prisons in South Africa : the super maximum concept
Authors: Luyt, W.Du Preez, N.

Abstract: To know what prisons were like before the prisons of today we have to rely on the writings of Plato or consult Jewish religious text in the form of the Bible. The deduction one makes is that in earlier times prisons were mainly used for temporary detention pending trial or the infliction of some form of punishment (Morris & Rothman 1995:3). Philosophies shift over time and the continuum of crime and punishment is not immune to these shifts in emphasis. Where the emphasis was placed on shorter periods of incarceration and draconian sentences after guilt was determined in ancient times, we now find that the draconian part of sentencing has moved to extremely long periods of incarceration. Throughout history public opinion and the approach to punishment of offenders by criminal justice agencies showed dominant paradigms. Traditionally, in the field of correctional services, the approach pendulumed between two extremes, namely punishment and treatment. In the view of Morgan-Sharp and Sigler (Muraskin & Roberts 1996:237) it is rare to have one extreme to the exclusion of the other at any stage. Most correctional systems would rather shift emphasis between the two.

Title: Aristotle's approach on justice and friendship : food for modern criminological thought
Authors: Ladikos, A.

Abstract: One of the great virtues of Aristotle's discussion of justice was his attempt to distinguish the more important meanings of the word. As Aristotle saw it, a person can be said to be just in two quite different senses. The first of these, universal justice, is coextensive with the whole of righteousness, with the whole of virtue. A person is just in the universal sense if he possesses all the proper virtues, if he is moral, if he keeps the laws, which Aristotle thought should agree with virtuous behaviour. But Aristotle recognized that "justice" may also be used in the sense of particular justice. In this particular sense, a man is just if he treats other people fairly, if he does not grasp after more than he is due. Aristotle distinguishes three kinds of particular justice namely (a) commercial justice, (eg. Interpersonal relations involving economic exchanges raise questions of this particular type of justice) (b) remedial justice (eg. Instances where some wrong must be made right under either criminal or civil law are occasions for remedial justice) and (c) distributive justice (eg. questions about this type of justice arise in situations where some good or some burden is apportioned among human beings).

Title: Attitudes towards women and crime
Authors: Beukman, B.

Abstract: The criminality of women has had a long history of neglect and it was only during the 19th and early to mid-20th centuries that there was a small group of writings specifically concerned with women and crime (Lilly, Cullen & Ball 1995:174). Although research proves to be a valuable tool in academic context, the view of the public is often far removed from sound research findings. Female criminality often attracts media attention owing to the mere fact that the crime was committed by a women, especially in cases of murder. Sentencing carried out on woman for murder illustrates the attitudes towards women and crime. The aim of this article is to give an overview of the attitudes towards women and their involvement in crime.

Title: The paradoxes and dilemmas of expertise in the criminal justice process
Authors: Meintjies-Van der Walt, L.

Abstract: "If matters arise in our law which concern other sciences or faculties, we commonly apply for the aid of that science or faculty which it concerns, which is an honourable and commendable thing in our law". (Buckley v Rice Thomas (1554) 1 Plowd 118 at 124)
Thus reads the earliest authorative judicial dictum found in English law on the need for expert assistance. The term "expert" used as an adjective can be defined in the following terms: "skilful, skilled, trained, knowledgeable, learned, experienced, practised". An expert is defined "as a person with the status of an authority (in a subject) by reason of special skill, training or knowledge; a specialist". An expert in the legal process therefore needs to possess sufficient specialised knowledge, skill, training or experience to enable him to supply information and opinions not generally available to members of the public (R v Van Schalkwyk 1948 2 SA 1000 (O); S v Bertrand 1975 4 SA 142 (K) 149 B-C; S v Van den Berg 1975 3 SA 354 (O) 357G; S v Adams 1983 2 SA 577 (A) 586A).

Title: The quest to police with integrity : the SAPS anti-corruption unit
Authors: Prinsloo, J.

Abstract: Social development and growth are frequently accompanied by an increaxe in corruption in emerging and transitional countries like South Africa. Although this paper focuses on corruption as a challenge to the South African Police Services (SAPS) it is, however, also necessary to take cognisance of the manifestation of corruption in Africa and in South Africa, as the general incidence of corruption is undoubtedly influenced by social "normalisation" of the phenomenon. Whereas corruption was previously generally considered a "political issue", the harm caused by corruption as one of the most significant barriers to development is now widely acknowledged (Grill 1999:16; Vapi 1999).

Title: The crime-risk profile of commercial institutions in South Africa
Authors: Naude, B.Prinsloo, J.Maree, A.Ladikos, A.Joubert, S.

Abstract: Crimes against the South African business sector are widely perceived as detrimental to local and regional development in Southern Africa and there is general concern that the democratisation of South Africa will be undermined if it is not matched with economic development aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of all South Africans. There is also growing concern that crime is undermining the government's economic development and job creation programmes as the dismantling of apartheid or separate development did not result in the expected increase in foreign investments which was to have stimulated economic development. Both government and the business community ascribe this to the high crime rate in the country and the inability to prevent and control crime.

Title: Israeli citizen's perception of terrorism
Authors: Wolf, Y.Wolf, R.

Abstract: News flashes about a commercial airplane being blown up with many passengers on board normally lead to the assumption that one is dealing with a terrorist attack. However, such an evaluation might prove to be false. Brutal criminals can blow up an airplane for reasons other than nationalism, ethnicity or religion and with no intention to terrorise the entire target population (see below). A valid identification of a violent attack as an instance of terrorism depends on the availability of a valid definition of terrorism.

Title: The impact of stranger rape on the significant other
Authors: Van den Berg, D.Pretorius, R.

Abstract: According to the Crime Information Management Center (CIMC) of the South African Police Service (SAPS) 42 429 women were raped during 1994 and 50 481 during 1996. An escalating tendency of 19 percent in rapes in South Africa can therefore be detected. A study by Nedcor (Oppler 1998:2) indicates that South Africa boasts the highest incidence of rape world-wide. However, there are so-called dark figures in official South African statistics concerning unreported cases, as well as with regard to reported rape cases. Aspects pertaining to whether the rapist was a stranger or an acquaintance are not documented as such and this can lead to shortcomings in the data.

Title: Drug trafficking in South Africa : Does the state have the capacity to counter this potential security threat?
Authors: Haefele, B.

Abstract: Organised crime, and particularly drug trafficking, is currently seen as a new universal security threat to world order. Analysts have argued that this particular phenomenon lies fundamentally within the global political en economic context that has emerged during the last decade. With the end of the Cold War and the emergence of "weak states" that became vulnerable as a result of the collapse of state structures, organised crime started to flourish. The most notable example is the former Soviet Union where the collapse of communist rule allowed the emergence of literally thousands of criminal organisations.

Title: Aggressive behaviour patterns in childhood : comparing violent and non-violent criminals
Authors: Schiff, K-G.Louw, D.A.

Abstract: This is the second of a two-article series in which violent and non-violent criminals are compared. In the first article the focus fell on biographical variables and childhood family relations as possible characteristics that may distinguish violent from non-violent offenders. As mentioned in the first article, it is important that, as a result of the great negative impact violence has on both the individual and the society, research on violent offenders should not be neglected. This is especially true in South Africa where violent crimes are rampant (see http:www.saps.co.za).

Title: A new look for the execution of the prison sentence in The Netherlands
Authors: Sagel-Grande, I.

Abstract: According to the recent Penitentiary Principles Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet = PBW) of 18 June 1998 (Legal Gazette 1999:30), the prison sentence is executed by placement of the sentenced in a penitentiary institution or by his or her participation in a penitentiary programme in terms of Article 2 of the PBW. Therefore we have to focus on the different penitentiary institutions first.

Title: Rating violence on the web
Authors: Beukman, B.Olivier, K.

Abstract: It is postulated that juvenile violence is one of the biggest problems facing societies in the new millennium. Contributing factors to the problem of juvenile violence include the violence that children are watching on television, at the movies, the music they are listening to, unrestricted use of the Internet, violent video games and violent coin-up games [Chilton 1997]. A recent statement, based on 30 years of research, from four national American health organisations namely the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, concluded that a direct link does exist between violence in the media and violence by children (Vermaakgeweld lei tot meer aggressie 2000:3).