Although much research has been conducted on violence, its effects, and which circumstances put an individual at risk of becoming a potential victim, there is a paucity of studies that focus on the perpetrators of violence. Much of the literature available on this subject is dated, providing information which is already dated and, frequently no longer relevant. This research has sought to explore and understand violent crimes from the psychological and emotional standpoint of the individual who perpetrated them. One objective of the study was to facilitate the development of a profile of youths who chronically commit crime, and more specifically crimes of violence. This study utilised the qualitative research design of Phenomenology, which allows for the exploration of the phenomena from the perspective of the participants. The sample for this study consisted of five male individuals who are currently incarcerated in a correctional institution situated in the Eastern Cape. The sample was chosen according to the non-probability purposive-sampling technique, based on their relevance to the study. The selected male offenders from the correctional institution ages ranged between 18 and 31. Specific criteria were identified against which participants were measured in order to be selected to participate in the research. Data was obtained from the participants via a questionnaire, a journal, and semi-structured interviews conducted by the researcher. Other data for the study was obtained from official documents. The study was embedded in the ecological theory of Bronfenbrenner, which provided the psychological framework in which to explain and understand the results of the study and the development of violence. The major findings of this study include; growing up violently, the reasons for violence, justificationa and perseptions of violence, society and the culture of 10 violence, and the environmental impact. These findings will contribute to the development of treatment programmes, which better facilitate the reformation and rehabilitation of criminals.

MA ( Psychology) / Dpartment of Psychology

This study examines offender assessment from a criminological perspective. International and national research findings, as well as the Canadian (Level of Service Inventory - Revised, LSRI-R) and the British (Offender Assessment System, OASys) offender assessment structures, are used as guidelines to illustrate the practice of offender assessment. Offender needs and risk assessment targets are examined and highlighted for general (non-specific) as well as sex and other violent offenders. A qualitative research design, supported by explanatory, descriptive and exploratory goals, directs the methodology of this research project. Important assessment tools, such as interviewing, observation, document analysis and the application of theoretical explanations are used to assess and analyse four selected case studies (adult male offenders). These case studies are representative of the different dimensions of offender assessment, namely classification, intervention, risk management and pre-parole assessment. The offenders are individually assessed, analysed and evaluated to determine among other factors, the origin, onset, contributory factors, triggers, high-risk situations, and intervention indicators that can assist custodial therapists and the prison authorities with a more focused approach to the rehabilitation and management of offenders. Each case study is also supported by a theoretical explanation. This highlights the key role, function and contribution of criminologists in corrections, as well as the importance of a multi-fold perspective in the rehabilitation and correction of criminal behaviour. / Criminology / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology))

Text in English / As an external cause of death, strangulation represents an extreme and particularly pernicious form of violence. Following the evidence gap in the extant literature, the current research examined the incidence, distributions, individual and situational predictors, and structural determinants of homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg for the period 2001-2010. The thesis is structured around four discrete but interrelated studies, which collectively offer an initial contribution to the body of scholarship on homicide generally, and on the characteristics and patterns of strangulation homicide specifically. The research drew on data from the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System and the South African National Census. Study I is a descriptive study that quantifies the extent of homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg and describes its distribution by characteristics of person, time, place and alcohol consumption. The remaining studies are analytical in focus, and are aimed at explaining homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg in terms of its determinants. These studies are differentiated by their focus on individual-level and neighbourhood-level risks. Study II assesses overall homicide strangulation risk in relation to all the other leading causes of homicide. Study III undertakes further disaggregation to investigate homicidal strangulation risk by gender specifically. Study IV considers the socio-structural correlates and geographic distributions of fatal strangulation. The study engages select micro-level and macro-level theories that focus on the intersection between vulnerability and routine activities, gender and neighbourhood derivatives of violence to explain the social ecology of lethal strangulation. The research findings demonstrate that homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg is a unique phenomenon that is distinct from overall homicide. As the fourth leading cause of homicide in the City of Johannesburg, fatal strangulation exhibits a marked female preponderance in victimisation and distinctive socio-demographic, spatio-temporal, sex-specific and neighbourhood-level variation in risk. The study is aligned with the increasing trend towards disaggregating overall homicide into more defined and conceptually meaningful categories of homicide. The study may represent one of the first empirical investigations that also attempts to offer theoretically-derived explanations of homicidal strangulation in South Africa. Fatal strangulation is a multi-faceted phenomenon that requires multi-dimensional and multi-level interventions directed at several points of its social ecology. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

Text in English, abstract in English, Zulu and Afrikaans / Globally there has been a rise in the population of incarcerated women over recent decades. Yet, despite this increase, female offenders only represent about 5% of the total incarcerated population. South Africa is no different – female offenders on average total less than 3% of the incarcerated population in South Africa, one of the ten largest correctional systems in the world. This small representation of women in the correctional system often leads to the interpretation that their pathways to offending and experiences of incarceration are the same as those of male offenders, delegitimising any role that gender may play in offending behaviour. The research topic of this doctoral study aims to investigate whether these women’s symbolic or pragmatic status as mothers motivated their crimes and how this occurrence may argue that the socioeconomic challenges faced by these women play a role in their criminalisation. By utilising a feminist pathways research approach, the unlawful actions of seventeen women incarcerated in the Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre is contextualised and reveals conduits to women’s incarceration that primarily involve victimisation and socially constructed “gendered vulnerabilities” that are indissolubly interconnected with poverty and oppression. As seen through their life history narratives, this confluence of factors, coupled with fulfilling the dual roles of provider and caregiver as a mother, contribute to their pathway to offending. Ultimately the research allows for a gender-sensitive analysis of the unique challenges incarcerated women in South Africa face, and the role agency and patriarchy has played in their pathways taken. / Isihloko: Inhlawulo yokuba ngumama – ukuhlolisisa izimo zokuba ngomama okudlula kuzo abantu besifazane baseNingizimu Afrika ababoshiwe njengento ewumzila obaholela ekwephuleni umthetho. Isishayelelo ngokufingqiwe: Emhlabeni jikelele, kulawa mashuminyaka asanda kudlula sandile isibalo sabesifazane ababoshiwe. Yize kunalokho kwenyuka kwesibalo, abesifazane abasuke bephule umthetho bayingxenye ethi ayibe ngama-5% enani selilonke labantu ababoshiwe. NeNingizimu Afrika nayo akwehlukile kuyo, kubantu ababoshiwe lapha eNingizimu Afrika abesifazane balinganiselwa kuma-2.2% kuphela esamba sesisonke sabantu ababoshiwe, kanti futhi iNingizimu Afrika iyingxenye yalezo eziyishumi okuyizona ezinkulu kunazo zonke emhlabeni kwezokuqondisa izigwegwe. Lesi sibalo esincane sabesifazane abasezindaweni zokuhlumelelisa izimilo sivamise ukuhunyushwa kuthiwe leyo mizila yempilo ebaholela ekuphuleni umthetho kanye nezimo abadlula kuzona ngenkathi beboshiwe iyefana neyabesilisa abasuke bephule umthetho, ngalokho bese lingashaywa ndiva noma iliphi iqhaza lezobulili kulezo zenzo zokwephula umthetho. Okokuqala, lesi sihloko esihlongoziwe salolu cwaningo lweziqu zobudokotela sihlose ukucacisa ubunjalo bezimpawu zomuntu ngamunye futhi nalezo zinto ezihambelana ngokufanayo kubantu besifazane abasezindaweni zokuhlumelelisa izimilo eNingizimu Afrika. Okwesibili, kuhloswe ukucubungulisisa ukuthi ngabe lesi simo abazithola bekusona njengabantu abangomama akusona yini noma cha esadala ukuthi benze lawo macala, kanye nokuthi ekwenzekeni kwalokho, zizathu zini ezingaba khona zokuthi izinselelo kwezenhlalo nezomnotho ezibhekana nalaba bantu besifazane yizona eziba negalelo lokuthi bazithole sebengene kwizenzo zokwephula umthetho. Ngokusebenzisa indlela yokucwaninga evuna amalungelo nesimo sabesifazane, lolu cwaningo luhlose ukuthi ekugcineni kube nokuziqondisisa izinto ezenzeka kumuntu ngayedwana kanye nakumphakathi, okuyizona zinto ezidala ukuthi laba bantu besifazane bagcine sebeqe inqubo elandelwayo emphakathini. Ngokusebenzisa ingxoxo-mibuzo ecubungula umlando wempilo, ngalokho kubhekisiswa ukungena ezenzweni zokwephula umthetho kwabantu besifazane abayishumi nesikhombisa ababoshwe eSikhungweni Sabesifazane Sokuhlumelelisa Izimilo saseJohannesburg, ngokubheka ubunjalo besimo okwenzeka ngaphansi kwaso lokho kwephulwa komthetho. Lokhu kuveza ithuba lokuhlaziya ngokusebenzisa indlela ebhekela ezobulili mayelana nezinselelo ezingefaniswe nalutho ababhekana nazo abesifazane ababoshiwe eNingizimu Afrika, futhi ngalokho-ke bese kunikwa laba bantu besifazane ulwazi lokuguqula izindlela abasuke sebehamba ngazo. Izindikimba ezingumongo: UMnyango Wezokuhlumelelisa Izimilo, iNingizimu Afrika, owesifazane ophule umthetho, isifundo sezobugebengu eseibhekelela ezobulili, izimo ophile kuzona, imizila eholela ekwephuleni umthetho, ingxoxomibuzo mayelana nomlando ngempilo, isayikholoji, ezobulili, indaba yezinto ezihambelanayo. / Titel: Die straf van moederskap – verkenning van die moederskapervaring van vroue in gevangeskap in Suid-Afrika se ervaring as 'n pad tot midaad Abstrak: Daar was die afgelope dekades wêreldwyd 'n toename in die populasie van vroue in gevangeskap. Ten spyte van die toename, verteenwoordig vroue slegs omtrent 5% van die totale populasie in gevangeskap. Suid-Afrika is in geen opsig anders nie – vroue-oortreders verteenwoordig gemiddeld slegs 2.2% van die populasie in gevangeskap in Suid-Afrika met een van die tien grootste korrektiewe stelsels in die wêreld. Hierdie klein verteenwoordiging van vroue in die korrektiewe stelsel lei dikwels tot die verklaring dat hul pad na oortreding en ervaring van gevangeskap dieselfde as dié van manlike oortreders is, wat enige rol wat gender ook al mag speel ongegrond maak. Die onderwerp van die navorsing wat vir die doktorale studie voorgestel is, is eerstens daarop gemik om die individuele kenmerke en dit wat vroue in gevangeskap in Suid-Afrika se korrektiewe fasiliteite gemeen het, uit te stip. Dit is tweedens daarop gemik om te verken of hierdie vrouens se simboliese of pragmatiese status as moeders hul misdade motiveer het, en hoe daar as gevolg van die voorkoms geredeneer kan word dat die sosioekonomiese uitdagings wat deur die vroue in die gesig gestaar word 'n rol in kriminalisering speel. Deur die feministiese benadering van navorsing te volg, word daar met dié studie daarop gemik om uiteindelik 'n begrip te vorm van individuele en sosiale prosesse wat daartoe lei dat hierdie vroue sosiale norme oortree. Deur lewensgeskiedenisonderhoude te gebruik, word die kriminalisering van die handelinge van 17 vroue in gevangeskap in Johannessburg se korrektiewe sentrum vir vroue gekontektualiseer. Dit bied geleentheid vir 'n gendersentitiewe ontleding van die unieke uitdagings wat vroue in gevangeskap in Suid-Afrika in die gesig staar, en voorsien vroue van die kennis om alternatiewe paaie te volg. Kerntemas: Departmenent van Korrektiewe Dienste, Suid-Afrika, vroueoortreder, feministiese kriminologie, geleefde ervaring, pad na misdaad, lewensgeskiedenisonderhoude, sielkunde, gender, narratief. / Psychology / D. Phil (Psychology)

This study examines offender assessment from a criminological perspective. International and national research findings, as well as the Canadian (Level of Service Inventory - Revised, LSRI-R) and the British (Offender Assessment System, OASys) offender assessment structures, are used as guidelines to illustrate the practice of offender assessment. Offender needs and risk assessment targets are examined and highlighted for general (non-specific) as well as sex and other violent offenders. A qualitative research design, supported by explanatory, descriptive and exploratory goals, directs the methodology of this research project. Important assessment tools, such as interviewing, observation, document analysis and the application of theoretical explanations are used to assess and analyse four selected case studies (adult male offenders). These case studies are representative of the different dimensions of offender assessment, namely classification, intervention, risk management and pre-parole assessment. The offenders are individually assessed, analysed and evaluated to determine among other factors, the origin, onset, contributory factors, triggers, high-risk situations, and intervention indicators that can assist custodial therapists and the prison authorities with a more focused approach to the rehabilitation and management of offenders. Each case study is also supported by a theoretical explanation. This highlights the key role, function and contribution of criminologists in corrections, as well as the importance of a multi-fold perspective in the rehabilitation and correction of criminal behaviour. / Criminology and Security Science / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology))

When conducting research on crime, scholars are generally inclined to focus on the aetiology, hence our comprehension of biological and/or environmental factors as antecedents of crime. In this study, however, acknowledgement was given to ex-offenders who, once released from prison showed positive signs of disengagement from crime and posed the following questions: what are the lived experiences of ex-offenders who desist from crime and what are the reasons influencing their decisions to stop offending? Four adult male ex-offenders of African descent between the ages of 30 and 42 participated in the study. The researcher, inspired by his insider position as an ex-offender aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of other ex-offenders who had stopped offending, or who were in the process of disengaging from crime. An interpretive phenomenological approach including three theories of criminal desistance were used to ground the study. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. Results showed that the processes of criminal desistance are unique and contextual, particular rather than universal, and that change can be attributed to intra-individual factors facilitated by strong quality social bonds / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Text in English / As an external cause of death, strangulation represents an extreme and particularly pernicious form of violence. Following the evidence gap in the extant literature, the current research examined the incidence, distributions, individual and situational predictors, and structural determinants of homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg for the period 2001-2010. The thesis is structured around four discrete but interrelated studies, which collectively offer an initial contribution to the body of scholarship on homicide generally, and on the characteristics and patterns of strangulation homicide specifically. The research drew on data from the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System and the South African National Census. Study I is a descriptive study that quantifies the extent of homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg and describes its distribution by characteristics of person, time, place and alcohol consumption. The remaining studies are analytical in focus, and are aimed at explaining homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg in terms of its determinants. These studies are differentiated by their focus on individual-level and neighbourhood-level risks. Study II assesses overall homicide strangulation risk in relation to all the other leading causes of homicide. Study III undertakes further disaggregation to investigate homicidal strangulation risk by gender specifically. Study IV considers the socio-structural correlates and geographic distributions of fatal strangulation. The study engages select micro-level and macro-level theories that focus on the intersection between vulnerability and routine activities, gender and neighbourhood derivatives of violence to explain the social ecology of lethal strangulation. The research findings demonstrate that homicidal strangulation in the City of Johannesburg is a unique phenomenon that is distinct from overall homicide. As the fourth leading cause of homicide in the City of Johannesburg, fatal strangulation exhibits a marked female preponderance in victimisation and distinctive socio-demographic, spatio-temporal, sex-specific and neighbourhood-level variation in risk. The study is aligned with the increasing trend towards disaggregating overall homicide into more defined and conceptually meaningful categories of homicide. The study may represent one of the first empirical investigations that also attempts to offer theoretically-derived explanations of homicidal strangulation in South Africa. Fatal strangulation is a multi-faceted phenomenon that requires multi-dimensional and multi-level interventions directed at several points of its social ecology. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

Text in English / South Africa has a high level of Crime and thus also has a high level of recidivism. The high rate of crime contributes to overcrowding in prison. The Department of Correctional Services has programmes for the offenders such as rehabilitation, parole, probation, re-entry and reintegration. These programmes are not effective to an extent that they are not changing the offenders’ behaviour. The qualitative aim of this study was to explore recidivism through the application of concepts and theories. The significant impact that rehabilitation, parole, re-entry, probation and reintegration exerted on recidivism cause more problems for the Department Correctional Services. Ineffectiveness of these programmes has a negative impact on the escalation of recidivism. The study revealed that programmes are not effective or adequate and that recidivism is the end-product. The recommendation from the study indicates that Correctional Services should encourage offenders to participate in these programmes. The department should also review policies on these programmes and align them with international standards. The study also recommended that more research needs to be conducted on recidivism in order to understand its impact into the community and Correctional Services. The recommendations on this study indicates that recidivists should have their own specific facilities and offenders that have committed different type of crimes be treated and offered a programme designed for a particular offender and not to use a “one size fits all” approach. / Corrections Management / M.A. (Corrections Management)