Appendix 2 General methodological approach

Appendix 2
General methodological approach

 

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN ZAMBIA
Enhancing the Delivery of Security in Africa

 

African Human Security Initiative

Monograph No 159, April 2009

 

The study proceeded in a number of stages. The AHSI2 secretariat was involved at all the stages and rendered technical support throughout. The stages were as follows:

• Stage 1: The engagement of country partners by AHSI 2 and preparation of the questionnaire for the country’s local context. This was done with the help of the country background report. An issue paper derived from this document served as a guideline for the actual study. Selected partners wrote brief action plans on how they intend to proceed with the study. They also compiled a list of stakeholders and other likely respondents for interviews they conducted. Partners indicated the institutions, such as prisons they intended to visit and later documented
  
  
  

• Stage 2: A country workshop was held during which studies pertaining to all sections were discussed. AHSI 2 took a holistic approach to this study, hence all sections outlined in the master questionnaire were viewed and treated as being interconnected
  
  
  

• Stage 3: Fieldwork/data collection by the partners and analysis of the findings were followed by a discussion of the preliminary report
  
  
  

• Stage 4: Finalisation of the country report, drafting of policy briefing documents and preparation for publication
  
  
  

• Stage 5: Confidential policy briefings with relevant stakeholders followed by general dissemination of the findings

Data collection

Document review

A document review was performed for every country, as well as an analysis of the institutional (constitutional) framework governing the administration of criminal justice. A review of non-governmental documentation on the crime situation and the functioning of the police and courts, for example information from the media, donor-commissioned studies, reports of international human rights monitors and reports from local academic and research institutions were undertaken. Official documentation from the relevant country, including official crime statistics, victimisation surveys, case studies of particular issues such as organised crime, interpersonal violence, gun violence, illicit drug-related crimes as well as available documentation on the capacity and effectiveness of the police and court systems (such as governmental annual reports, statistics, parliamentary reports) were studied. Official documentation from other sources, such as the Survey of Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime and Interpol reports were also studied.

Structured interviews/focus group discussions

In-depth interviews or focus group discussions were conducted with individual key officials in the relevant government departments and groups of interviewees from select target/stakeholders. The actual number of interviews per organisation were determined during the preparation of the detailed country research plan and was based on more information about each organisation that became available. The interviews were largely structured.

Interviews or focus group discussions with selected stakeholders involved indirectly in the management of crime and security problems, and service delivery to those affected by crime, such as private security companies, informal community based anti-crime organisations, traditional leaders, hospitals, clinics and ambulance services, relief agencies, counselling or psychological services providers, legal aid agencies, defence lawyers, security advisors to the corporate sector or multinationals operating in the countries concerned. Direct questions were asked about stakeholders’ views of government policy with regard to criminal justice.

Interviews or focus group discussions with key representatives of organised civil society such as women’s groups, religious or faith-based groups, trade unions, community or residents’ associations, the education sector (particularly schools) and youth organisations. The aim of these discussions was to identify the key safety and security needs and challenges facing the communities represented by the stakeholders, general views about crime and safety, priority needs with respect to safety and security, and views about the capacity and performance of the criminal justice sector. Direct questions were also be asked about stakeholders’ views of government policy with regard to criminal justice.

Questionnaires

A set of standardised questionnaires were administered across the countries involved in the project.

Victimisation survey

The suggestion was that if necessary, from the input gathered in the course of the above approaches, crime victimisation surveys might need to be conducted in specific locations in an attempt to provide more objective and quantitative data on the nature and extent of the crime situation. The suggestion was that this would only be necessary if the qualitative approach revealed strong disagreements among stakeholders (and government) about safety and security issues, or if the research revealed important issues that the local stakeholders believed require in-depth exploration. However, in the case of the research and data collection on Zambia no major disagreements were found and accordingly more surveys were not carried out.

A detailed analysis of public opinion data was conducted where data was available.