In December 2010 the Crime and Justice Programme of the Institute for Security Studies  held the first of what we hope will be an annual conference to explore issues relating to crime and its prevention. The conference, titled ‘Towards a coherent strategy for crime reduction in South Africa beyond 2010’, brought together researchers, academics, criminal justice practitioners and policymakers to discuss and debate the latest research findings from South Africa and elsewhere.

Crime, particularly violent crime, is a deeply complex problem, with multiple causes and ‘solutions’. Identifying ‘what works’ and what doesn’t in reducing violent crime, improving policing practices, and supporting victims is no simple task. It is also rare to find agreement amongst ‘experts’ about what the priorities are and how the problem of crime should be theorised about and tackled. Yet, it is vital that researchers, academics, practitioners and policymakers have opportunities to hear different perspectives, weigh the evidence that is available from research and forge relationships through networking. Such forums also help us to refine our thinking and research agendas. This publication – a peer-reviewed collection of ten papers presented at the conference – represents a small sample of the numerous papers delivered on that occassion. The remaining papers were not included because they will be published elsewhere in the course of 2011, for example in the South African Crime Quarterly.

The papers in this collection present data and theory about the factors that contribute to causing crime and its reduction; and consider issues relating to policing.

In the first contribution Keith Soothill and Brian Francis consider four theories about what could reduce crime. They then reflect the debate that raged about why crime rates fell in the early 1990s, most notably in New York, but also in other Western countries. They draw together the theory and evidence to reach the conclusion that if we are to reduce crime, ‘the pivotal issue is whether one can develop a society in which all persons feel that they have a  stake and, thus, develop internal controls to resist crime. The development of more prisons and more intrusive policing – measures of external controls – is a sad reflection of a failure to do this.’

Closer to home, Michael O’Donovan takes on the debate about whether poverty or inequality are to blame for the high rate of property and violent crime in South Africa. The findings of his statistical analysis suggest that the urban spatial planning and development that historically separated South Africans by race, and also by income level, and which is yet to be reversed in any significant way, is one of the factors that drives property crime.

Jean Redpath presents the findings of a victimisation survey which was complemented by focus group discussions in Galeshewe (in the Northern Cape). The results of the research reaffirm the findings from other studies that single, young men are disproportionately both the victims and perpetrators of crime. The findings offer further interesting and sometimes counter-intuitive insights into the dynamics of crime and victimisation in Galeshewe and demonstrate the utility of local victimsation surveys for informing strategies to reduce crime.

Kopano Ratele and his colleagues from the Medical Research Council present data from the National Mortuary Surveillance System collected between 2001 and 2006. They consider what the data can tell us about male homicide victimisation in four South African cities where male homicide rates are high.

Malose Langa’s work with young men from Alexandra township in Gauteng offers important insights into the views and experiences of those who choose not to accept dominant notions of masculinity characterised by risk-taking, violence, and displays of machismo. Given the high levels of young male victimisation and crime perpetration in South Africa, this research is unfortunately a rare example of work being undertaken towards developing an understanding of the formation of masculine identity in urban spaces. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate discussion about how that gap can be addressed.

David Bruce has been conducting research and writing about policing in South Africa for more than a decade. His analysis of the effect of the dominant hardline approach to policing and crime adopted over the past two years in South Africa should provide police managers with pause for thought. Indeed, his paper raises serious concerns about whether we are sliding backwards towards the kind of abusive policing that was characteristic of apartheid. He shows that improving policing and addressing crime cannot be achieved through the unrestrained use of excessive force and while police display disregard for the human rights of civilians and crime suspects.

Sanja Kutnjak Ivković and Adri Sauerman write about the ongoing challenge of police corruption in South Africa. They draw on the results of a survey amongst police officers from seven provinces which sought to shed light on the ‘code of silence’ that prevents policemen and women from reporting corrupt activities of their colleagues. Their work adds to the body of research on the conditions that allow police corruption to flourish and the constraints to dealing with it effectively.

Elrena van der Spuy’s paper makes a welcome break from the serious and troubling issues related to South African policing raised by the preceding papers. Rather, she offers an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of policing practice during the FIFA World Cup and why it was such a success.

Changing subject and continents, the publication concludes with two papers by US academics, Sheldon Zhang and Gabriella Sanchez. Zhang has conducted research amongst sex workers in the Mexican border town of Tijuana to determine the nature of women’s experiences in the industry and how they got there. He interrogates the utility of the concept of trafficking in reflecting the lived experiences of sex workers. His research findings are in fact very similar to the findings of research undertaken by the ISS and the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce in Cape Town in 2008 and 2009. As such his paper contributes to our understanding of the complexity of dealing with sex work through regulation and law enforcement in a reasonable, fair and humane manner, while protecting those who suffer exploitation and abuse. Gabriella Sanchez contributes to this discussion by reflecting the experiences of migrants in Arizona. She argues that the focus on human trafficking by law enforcement agencies and politicians has opened the space for violations of migrant workers’ rights and resulted in increased marginalisation and stigmatisation of this vulnerable group.

The publication spans a wide range of topics that I hope are of interest to all readers who have an interest in crime prevention and policing. I believe that it is an important contribution to the discourse about crime and policing in South Africa. I hope you will too.

Chandré Gould
April 2011