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Research

PublicationsResearch
  • Children and Youth, Correctional Services, Criminal Justice, Youth Violence

Into the Heart of Darkness: Journeys of the Amagents in Crime, Violence and Death

This paper is a journey into their criminal underworld – South Africa's heart of darkness. It is a unsettling journey but one that is vital if we are to reach beyond the public disquietude surrounding these cold-blooded youngsters and begin to understand the human contours of their moral exile and pariah status. The journey starts with their own, autobiographical accounts of how they were drawn into this world of deviance; the different paths they have traversed; the events that have taken place along the way and the dialogue that they have about their goals and dreams in the future.

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  • CSVR
PublicationsResearch
  • Criminal Justice, Urban Safety

Urban Crime and Violence in South Africa

This document presents a brief analysis of urban crime in South Africa. Three fundamental facts underpin this analysis. Firstly there are many different kinds of crime, requiring many different types of intervention. Secondly there is no single cause of crime, so it is necessary to understand the linked social, economic, political and psychological causes in order to prevent it. And lastly crime statistics are notoriously unreliable, so simple statistical analysis may hide as much as it reveals. To develop effective solutions, crime and its causes must be disaggregated.

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  • Graeme Simpson
PublicationsResearch
  • Transitional Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Truth Commissions

Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Survivors' Perceptions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Suggestions for the Final Report

This report is a culmination of eleven workshops conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation with a sample of victims/survivors who belong to Khulumani Victim Support Group. The aim of the workshops was to elicit the views of victims/survivors on the recommendations to be made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in its final report.

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  • Brandon Hamber, Traggy Maepa, Tlhoki Mofokeng and Hugo van der Merwe
PublicationsResearch
  • Children and Youth, Youth Violence

Restoring the Social Fabric

This is a shortened version of a paper given by Wandile Zwane at a workshop held in Washington, DC, on CSVR's work in schools. The CSVR's Children and Violence Intervention Programme (CVIP) began in 1994 as a pilot project in four schools in Soweto. In addition, a teacher training programme called the "40 Schools Project," which services both primary and high schools, was initiated in 1996. The primary aim of the project was to reach children and to provide a service that would help to decrease the negative impact of violence. Since its inception, it has grown to include caregivers such as teachers, parents and extended family members.

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  • Wandile Zwane
PublicationsResearch
  • Transitional Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Truth Commissions

The Use of Evsys for Preparing a Human Rights Database for Presentation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa

A range of organisations had previously worked on human rights abuses under apartheid, particularly through the 1980s, when detention without trial, assassinations, torture and disappearances were daily occurrences for the oppressed in South Africa. These organisations held a wealth of information in their files, which had been gained from the statements and affidavits of victims and their families, from court records, newspapers and reports. The advent of the TRC provided an opportunity for the organisations to provide their material to the TRC so that it could gain an accurate picture of human rights abuses. This paper describes the project which was set up for this purpose. The use of EVSYS for the project is outlined in detail and evaluative comments on the project as a whole are provided.

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  • Lydia Levin, Polly Dewhirst and Brandon Hamber
PublicationsResearch
  • Criminal Justice, Policing

Victims and the Criminal Justice System in South Africa

This paper identifies shortcomings in the criminal justice system and explores the treatment of victims. It indicates that high crime levels can be attributed in part to insensitive treatment of victims by the criminal justice system. This paper explores aspects of that relationship and points to Community Policing and Community Justice Forums (CJFs) as a viable alternative to the existing system.

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  • Duxita Mistry
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