Acta Criminologica: Southern African Journal of Criminology - latest Issue

Intersectionality was used as a lens in this article to analyse the recounted experiences of 20 former female inmates (prisoners) of correctional centres (prisons) in South Africa. It was found that if stratification identifiers such as race, class and gender are simultaneously analysed in conjunction with female crime, distinctive trends of criminality can be identified. Fraud and shoplifting were the two most common offences for which women in this study were sentenced and the majority of them had relatively short sentences. It was found that the types of crime women have committed and their experiences whilst being incarcerated were influenced by their access to financial resources which, in turn, was simultaneously influenced by their educational levels and racial category. Multiple positions of power and hardship were revealed in this study.

Accessing the criminal justice system is a basic human right protected internationally by the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, one group within the broader disability sphere who finds accessing the criminal justice system particularly challenging is those with little or no functional speech (LNFS), as they cannot rely on spoken language to meet their needs. The aim of this research was to identify the factors that assist persons with LNFS, who had been victims of sexual crime, to access the criminal justice system in accordance with the contextual factors listed in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Twenty-five participants took part in the research. A qualitative research design was used and three semi-structured in-depth interviews and three focus groups were conducted. A conventional qualitative analysis was used to identify themes. The findings suggested that although persons with LNFS are particularly vulnerable victims of sexual crime, personal and environmental factors can be facilitated to successfully access the criminal justice system. Our research suggests the development of a Disability Resource Toolkit to be used as a guideline and best practice model to ensure equal access to the criminal justice system for persons with LNFS.

This study sought to determine whether a relationship exists between murder and the policing of illegal firearms by the South African Police Service (SAPS), particularly in high crime areas. The study used a case series approach that examined and retrospectively compared trends in the number of annual cases of murder and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition (IPFA) across 132 high crime police precincts in South Africa for the period from 1994/95 to 2014/15. The data for these two crime categories, which was drawn from the SAPS’ crime database, were then displayed as line charts and thereafter a trajectory pattern analysis was undertaken by means of visual inspection. The trajectory pattern analysis showed that there was an apparent consistent inverse association between the murder and IPFA trajectories in close to 40 per cent of the sample. The article emphasises that an interdisciplinary approach, one that draws from both public health and criminological frameworks, is essential to a more informed understanding of the relationship between firearm controls and firearm murders.

Pervasive and suffocating corruption and dishonesty have become commonplace in South African society. Determining the integrity of employees, both prospective and existing, in the workplace is of cardinal importance for business owners, managers and human resource practitioners alike in order to optimally administer human capital/industrial relations, and to protect their assets and the reputation of their enterprises. To this end polygraph examinations are frequently employed in South African corporate society to facilitate, amongst others, job applicant vetting, routine staff integrity screening and/or the testing of employees suspected of being involved in workplace infidelity. Unsurprisingly, polygraph testing has generated considerable scientific and public controversy. Lie detector tests, as they are commonly referred to in colloquial speech, have become a popular cultural icon — from crime dramas to comedies to advertisements — the portrayal of a polygraph stylus agitating on a moving chart is a readily recognised symbol. As the application of polygraph techniques grow in public visibility and use in corporate society, specifically as an investigatory mechanism, the vexing question is whether the polygraph, when applied in a workplace setting for specifically personnel screening, has the potential to victimise employees (candidate or existing)? This article, instead of rigidly focusing on validity and accuracy issues of the polygraph examination per se, examines certain utilitarian issues relating to this question from a metaphysical and discursive standpoint. Such focus seeks to reveal areas where potential prejudice, harassment or victimisation of aspiring and current employees exists. The incremental value hereof could well expose the potential victimisation impact of polygraph application during personnel vetting and retention exercises and is intended to serve as a caveat regarding the unmitigated usage of polygraph. This article, therefore, seeks to apprise the more obscure and undervalued dynamics underlying screening tests leading to a better understanding of the conundrum that presents in this arena and ultimately serving as a caution against grasping for overzealous cures.