Criminological ideas and the South African transition

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8400745
AutoresDirk Van Zyl Smit (0000-0002-5540-2897, University of Cape Town, autor de correspondencia)
Año1999
Volumen39
Número2
Páginas198-215
Fecha de publicación1999-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjc/39.2.198
OpenAlexW2171438152
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10

The struggles surrounding apartheid and the quest for democracy have had an important impact on the development of criminological thought in South Africa. This paper describes the three major tendencies in South African criminological thought: the formerly dominant Afrikaner nationalist criminology, legal reformism and a critical criminology with a commitment to democratic and communitarian practice. It traces the opportunities for development that the immediate transition to democracy offered to the latter two tendencies in particular. It then sketches the extent to which the ideals of the various tendencies have been met since the first democratic election in 1994 and outlines the obstacles to their implementation that have emerged. In conclusion, the paper considers the prognoses for the various tendencies and warns that, notwithstanding the undoubted achievements of South African critical criminology, an undiscriminating reliance on the communitarian ideals of the transition may make it difficult for the South African criminal justice system to meet the challenges it now faces.

Criminology · Transition (genetics) · Chemistry · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Legal Issues in South Africa · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending