Please read the abstract (summary p ix) in the secrion 00front of this document / Dissertation (MA (Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Criminology / MA / unrestricted

Among the many problems that victims may face in the aftermath of victimization, a commonly noted yet infrequently studied phenomenon is that of victim disregard. Victims are often ignored by the people they would normally look to for assistance. It was proposed that equity theory might provide a useful framework for understanding this phenomenon. Equity theory suggests victims are ignored because helping is sometimes equity based rather than victim-need based. According to equity theory, learning of victimization threatens an observer's sense of equity. Helping (in the present case, compensation) is only one way of reducing inequity; if other methods of inequity reduction are used (in this case, perpetrator punishment), equity may be restored without the victim being assisted. In five studies, victim compensation (the dependent variable) was hypothesized to vary as a function of perpetrator punishment. / Master of Science

M.Sc. / With the changes in the South African political and economic climate in the past years, an increase in violent crime has become one of the most significant issues affecting the people of this country. Among them is car hijacking, which has reached epidemic proportions. As a result of this traumatic experience, many of the victims of hijacking develop posttraumatic stress disorder or symptoms thereof. From the literature it would seem that certain . variables may increase the vulnerability for the development of this disorder. This study sought to investigate a number of these variables, namely, demographic information, attributional style, personality style, and both premorbid depression and anxiety. The purpose was to establish whether pre-existing risk factors, that were found in the literature to play a role in the development of PTSD, also apply to the South African population, as well as to victims of car hijacking specifically. As this situation is unique to South Africa, there is a great need for information in this area. If these risk factors could be isolated, more effective treatment may be developed for victims. A sample of 38 hijack victims was approached to complete a battery of psychometric tests to assess the above mentioned variables as well as a measure of posttraumatic stress syrnptomology. The Revised Impact of Events Scale, Attributional Style Questionnaire, Millons Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, State- Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory were used as psychometric instruments for this study. Inferential statistical analyses as well as descriptive statistical analyses were performed on the data. In general, no specific constellation of premorbid factors contributing to the impact of the event were found. Depression and state anxiety showed significant contribution to the impact of the hijacking but these variables measured current symptoms rather than premorbid. No other variables proved to be significant. This result may have been strongly influenced by the fact that the sample was very homogenous. The findings therefore offer difficulties as far as generalizability is concerned. It is recommended that this study be performed on a larger, more representative and diverse sample in the future.

M.A. / This phenomenological study was designed to explore the victim's lived experience of undergoing a motor vehicle hijacking. The aim of the study was to add to the knowledge and understanding of this complex phenomenon. The design of the study was qualitative. Data was collected through in depth unstructured interviews with four people who had very recently been hijacked. The interviews were recorded on audio tape and transcribed verbatim for each subject. An intra-individual analysis of each subject's account rendered an understanding of the experience in context for that individual, while an inter-individual analysis of the accounts permitted a discussion of common and contrasting themes and patterns. The nature of the subjects' experiences during, immediately after and in the days following the hijacking trauma is elucidated in detail. Based both on the literature reviews of trauma and hijacking, and the findings of this study, suggested contributions towards a theoretical framework for understanding the victim's experience of motor vehicle hijacking are proposed. The findings of this study will hopefully increase understanding of what it is like to be hijacked, provide relevant information and guidelines to clinicians working with these trauma victims, and provide suggestions for future research in this field.

M.A. (Psychology) / South Africa in 1997 is commonly seen as one of the most violent non-war countries in the world. Crime has become so much part of the daily routine of the average South African, that it is almost accepted as the norm. This study investigates the experiences of six persons, directly affected by a violent crime. The researcher endeavours to relate the constructions the victims hold around their experience of a car-jacking as truthful as possible and thus uses the paradigm of social constructionism ...

The focus of this study is to establish how victimization through violence has affected the families who are interviewed. The purpose is to describe how the family’s world has changed in different moments during the political strife in South Africa. The different context or moments are those of political inactivity, the struggle years, the period after the struggle when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was constituted and the new world order in which the families continue with their lives. Using a phenomenological approach, the experiences of families subjected to different forms of political violence, such as disappearances of victims, torture in detention and death in detention, are discussed. The literature review on violence in the South African context situates any discourse which occurred within the broader social, historical and political context. Systems Theory, Social Identity Theory and an Integrated Theory of Political Violence are used as theoretical perspectives in understanding the interconnectedness between violence which affected the families in the present study and the whole society. The qualitative research interview method postulated by Kvale (1996) has been used to collect data from the families. This procedure has enabled the researcher to study the data as it emerged thus allowing an understanding of the essential meanings implicit in the participants’ descriptions of their experiences. The data consists of audio taped interviews conducted with twenty-two members from ten families. This resulted in twenty-two protocols which were transcribed and analysed. The analysis of the protocols, though used differently from the situated structure identified by Wertz (1983), brought essential themes common to all participants. The research findings reveal themes which demonstrate that experiences of the families subjected to political violence had an impact on their lives. They remember living routinely before the struggle against the apartheid structures. This is remembered as a very long time. The struggle years brought disintegration of the family unit as people fled their homes into exile. Others disappeared, were detained, tortured and dies in prison. The relationship between the families and their children was that of concern, as parents discouraged their children to participate in the political activities. The effects of violence culminated in hardship for many families as they experienced an absence of a helpful community, alienation from political organizations, and distrust of the State during the time that missing family members could not be traced by the security police. This distrust also existed among the communities who were experiencing suffering through incidents of black on black violence. The introduction of the TRC, as a major these with sub-themes of healing and forgiveness, is perceived positively by these families. At last, they feel that through this process their suffering of loss of their children, husbands and wives is acknowledged. However, there are divergent opinions about this acknowledgement, as research findings point to an incomplete sense of individual healing for these families though they have told their stories of pain and suffering. This is a controversial issue which needs further research to explicate if individual experience off the victim is perceived to be similar to the collective experience of the broader community. The performance of rituals and memories on behalf of their dead fulfils an important healing role for the families. There is ambivalence about forgiveness for many families as they feel that perpetrators who seek amnesty have not made full disclosures about their activities. There is polarization that surfaces between the present government and the families who testified with regard to reparation which was included as a clause in the TRC process. The families in the present study perceive that in order to continue with the new world order, they have to be compensated for their suffering. Further research should investigate if reparations to individuals who testified before the TRC would be healing, before implementing processes that would heal the whole nation. / Thesis (DPhil (Psychotherapy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted