Introduction
Aim of the blog
Welcome! We are five students from Stellenbosch University that participate in this blog as part of a course on Public Anthropology. Our aim is to get anthropology and the public, which includes you, to engage. In achieving this, we want the blog to serve as a way in which you and anthropology can interact. In the coming weeks, we will introduce you to crime in Stellenbosch, which is a local issue to us, but also an issue of global relevance. All of us will look at crime from an anthropological perspective. However, we will individually study it from different angles. In order to make this blog accessible to the public, we will try to avoid the use of academic language that might alienate people. Nevertheless, if we are to reach our aim, we need your feedback. Therefore, please comment on what we write.
Crime
We chose crime as a theme because (1) it is widespread in South Africa and (2) it has a great impact on the South African society as a whole, as well as on individuals. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), South Africa has the second highest homocide rate (Malby, 2010: 11-14) and the highest rape rate in the world (Heiskanen, 2010: 25). Between April 2009 and March 2010, 2.1 million serious crime cases were registered in South Africa (SAPS, 2010b: 1). In Stellenbosch alone, there were, for example, 34 murders, 945 burglaries at residential premises and 223 motor vehicles stolen between April 2009 and March 2010 (SAPS, 2010a).
However, before diving further into the subject of crime, it is useful to give with a definition of crime in order to determine what it is and what it is not. It is possible to describe crime as behaviour that threatens certain treasured values in society, which society has therefore made illegal. For example, the right to life is protected by murder being punishable. The right to property is also protected by theft being punishable (Burchell, 2005: 49).
- Mayah Veronica Ekse (15637018)
- Mayah Veronica Ekse (15637018)
Bibliography
Burchell, J. 2005. Principles of Criminal Law. 3rd ed. Lansdowne: Juta.
Heiskanen, M. 2010. Homocide. In Harrendorf, S., Heiskanen, M. & Malby, S. (eds.). International Statistics on Crime and Justice. Helsinki: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. pp. 21-48.
Malby, S. 2010. Homocide. In Harrendorf, S., Heiskanen, M. & Malby, S. (eds.). International Statistics on Crime and Justice. Helsinki: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. pp. 7-20.
South African Police Service (SAPS). 2010a. Crime in Stellenbosch (WC) for April to March 2003/2004 to 2009/2010. [Online]. Available:
http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2010/provinces/w_cape/pdf/stellenbosch.pdf [12 September 2010]
South African Police Service (SAPS). 2010b. The Crime Situation in South Africa. [Online]. Available:
http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2010/crime_situation_sa.pdf
[12 September 2010]
