THEME 1 Universal factors that increase the risk of crime and victimisation
STUDY UNIT 1.1 Demography and Urbanisation
Key concepts
Demography - scientific study of populations and, more specifically, the study of births, deaths, disease, and so forth, which
illustrates conditions of life in communities.
Urbanisation refers to the places where people live which have been defined as urban. includes the physical influx of people
across boundaries toward areas which have been defined as urban the reclassification of certain areas as urban areas.
Urban growth refers to the increase in the population of urban areas.
Features of urban life that contribute to criminality
Problems in cities: poverty, poor housing and education, crime, and racial and ethnic tensions.
Every city has its relatively more affluent and relatively poorer neighbourhoods.
In developing countries, poorer neighbourhoods can have dramatically lower levels of basic services:
Severe environmental health challenges associated with insufficient access to clean drinking water, inadequate
sewerage facilities, and insufficient solid waste disposal facilities.
Virtually no effective measures to control land development. The presence of slum areas and squatter camps bears
witness to this lack of control measures.
Sub-Saharan Africa faces a greater set of development changes than any other major region of the world:
low productivity in agriculture and industry,
a lack of foreign exchange,
high indebtedness,
a poor balance of payments position,
political instability,
chronic mismanagement of economic resources
high levels of corruption.
The region contains a growing share of the world's absolute poor
Crime rates are higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Features:
population density
crowded conditions within a household where people who are often unrelated live together with a consequent lack
of privacy
the availability of alcohol and illegal substances
socially, bars and shebeens
overcrowded transportation services
limited employment opportunities: Unemployment results in the destabilisation of the household.
relative deprivation: the social positions of others are perceived as being affluent ones, and this adds fuel to feelings
of frustration and envy.
South African cities
Approximately 60% of the population lives in urban areas.
With the end of apartheid cities became primary destinations for people from throughout South Africa and the African
continent.
Inner cities are the primary destinations for people from beyond South Africa's borders. Gauteng province (Johannesburg and
Pretoria) is the central point for these flows.
A recent survey in central Johannesburg found that close to one-quarter of inner-city residents were foreign-born.
Foreigners are not the only ones moving to the cities – 68% of inner-city Johannesburg residents reported moving to their
present household in the past five years.
The convergence of newly urbanised South Africans and non-nationals creates an environment of resource scarcity and,
combined with political and economic transition, places a premium on the rights to residence, employment and social
services.
Urban South Africans link the presence of non-nationals with the country's social ills. Among these, crime, aggravating the
incidence of HIV/AIDS, unemployment and overcrowding, and with undermining social service delivery.
Can high crime rates in urban places be reduced?
Macionis and Parrillo, proposals to reduce high crime rates in cities:
Adapted from: F.J.W. Herbig, et al., (2011) Study Guide for CMY2601, Crime Risk Perspectives, University of South Africa, Pretoria
, improving the physical design of buildings (Oscar Newman): poorly designed buildings, such as high-rise apartment
blocks encourage crime because they isolate inhabitants from each other, creating many unwatched places such as
stairs, lifts and corridors where crime can easily occur. Newman argues that crime can be reduced if designers create
defensible space. The emphasis is territoriality and surveillance. In terms of territoriality, buildings and grounds are
subdivided into zones of influence to discourage outsiders from entering and to encourage residents to defend their
areas. In terms of surveillance, buildings should be designed to allow easy observation of the related territory.
Having street patrols by local citizens
targeting vulnerable areas
creating citizens' boards
adopting a policy of tougher punishment
instilling a sense of social responsibility: Ask parents and educators to commit themselves to this task so that fewer
young people will be drawn into crime.
STUDY UNIT 1.2 Economic factors - economic systems and vulnerability to crime
Capitalism-socialism continuum
Adam Smith: All the roleplayers in the market want to improve their positions, private ownership is central to this. The
capitalism accumulation of wealth and the control of industries by individuals are important, profit is morally
justifiable and socially desirable. In this way, individuals keep the economy working.
Competition plays an important role. Competition is supposed to prevent the formation of monopolies.
Supply and demand are important. If the demand for a particular product is high and the supply is low,
prices will rise.
The non-interventionist or laissez-faire approach is vital. The market must be allowed to function freely,
and the state should not interfere.
Karl Marx: Marx regarded capitalism as a transient phase which would be followed by socialism.
socialism The transition would occur when the organised working class (the proletariat) overthrew the dominant
owners or bourgeoisie.
There should be strict limits to private enterprise. All property, and the production process, should be
controlled by the state to the benefit and in the interests of the masses, since private ownership leads
to exploitation and inequality. Personal profit must be replaced by a system in which everyone has
equal access to resources, and all resources are utilised to the advantage of everyone.
The state should not permit any competition. Resources and the means of production should be
controlled by the state, rather than by a small group of powerful capitalists. This prevented the proper
functioning of supply and demand.
State control of the markets was a vital way of providing for the people's needs. A socialist state would
therefore be actively involved in economic planning.
John Maynard Balance between capitalism and socialism. Elements of both Smith's and Marx's principles.
Keynes: mixed His theories appear in The general theory of employment, interest and money (1936) and were largely
economy inspired by the Great Depression.
The state should be actively involved in economic affairs to prevent disasters like the Depression. The
state should help to create work for everyone, for instance by lowering interest rates, which would
stimulate investment. The state should also initiate programmes which would increase the incomes of
the needy. They would have more money, and by spending it they would stimulate the economy.
Supported private ownership and profit (the accumulation of wealth), but he thought that capitalism
should be subject to certain controls in order to prevent crisis situations from arising.
Vulnerability to crime and economic factors
People's lives are affected by the political and economic systems under which they have to operate, which makes them very
vulnerable to any changes that may take place.
Where there has been a movement away from central control (state control, socialism) to a free market system (capitalism):
Contrary to capitalist expectations, the economies of these countries did not grow but shrank.
Prices could no longer be kept artificially low by means of central planning, government control and enormous
subsidies.
Industries which were badly managed could no longer survive because there was no competition.
When free enterprise arrived, inefficient industries lost their viability as a result of the price of raw materials, wage
demands, and the sudden advent of local and foreign competition.
Millions of people were without work, poverty arose and people were in crisis.
These conditions can give rise to crime:
Unemployed people have both the time and the motivation to commit crimes.
Adapted from: F.J.W. Herbig, et al., (2011) Study Guide for CMY2601, Crime Risk Perspectives, University of South Africa, Pretoria
, Economic inequality also creates a sense of relative deprivation.
Exposure to free market system
Freer movement of people
Economic inequalities and crime
Relative poverty (or economic inequality), and not absolute poverty, is a more relevant variable when trying to explain the
fact that criminal activities differ from one environment to another.
The levels of criminal activity must be expected to vary according to the extent of inequality and the distribution of wealth or
income.
Empirical studies on the connection between inequalities in income and crime levels have given divergent results. Some
studies found that both income inequalities and poverty are positively linked to manslaughter figures. Others found that
economic inequality, and not poverty, might be responsible for the environmental variations encountered in respect of
violent crimes.
The socioeconomic inequalities undermine the social integration of a community, because these inequalities create
numerous social differences which widen the gap between social classes and result in social disruption and latent hostility.
Regions characterised by extreme economic inequality between racial groups are also the regions with the highest levels of
violent crime.
STUDY UNIT 1.3 Unemployment
Definition of unemployment
An unemployed person is someone without paid work (voluntarily or involuntarily) who is available for work, regardless of
whether he or she is actively looking for work.
Voluntary unemployment - Associated with idleness, because there are people who prefer/choose not to work.
Enforced or involuntary unemployment - those people who are out of work without having any personal control over their
situation.
Types of unemployment
temporary unemployment: This arises as a result of the time lapse between the end of one job and the start of the
next.
seasonal unemployment: This is caused by seasonal fluctuations in job opportunities. There is no work lasting the
whole year, and job opportunities arise only at certain times of the year.
cyclical unemployment: This arises from cyclical fluctuations in sectors such as construction and export of raw
materials. These types of activities do not take place consistently, and can vary from time to time as a consequence
of demand.
structural unemployment: This is caused by changing demands, and therefore an oversupply of workers in some
occupations at a given time as a result of changes in the economy and technology.
demographic unemployment: The labour force in a particular area might grow faster than job opportunities can be
provided.
In the case of South Africa, demographic and structural unemployment are particularly problematic.
Levels of unemployment
Worldwide = 10 % unemployment
South Africa = 45%, subtract informal sector and farm workers = 28 %
Trade unions
Trade unions are responsible for wage increases, and that these increases can result in the replacement of labour by capital
(mechanisation).
Strikes - increase the cost of labour because they lead to loss of production, management has to spend more time
negotiating, and there is uncertainty about when talks will be held. Uncertainty, in its turn, gives rise to the perception that
the labour force is unreliable.
Causes of unemployment
Structural factors: people do not have the skills or the qualifications required for employment.
Natural causes: Droughts, in particular, affect the broader economic system and economic growth and can result in
large-scale unemployment.
Adapted from: F.J.W. Herbig, et al., (2011) Study Guide for CMY2601, Crime Risk Perspectives, University of South Africa, Pretoria
, Balance of payments South Africa is much more competitive economically than it was during apartheid, and it has a
positive (healthy) trade balance. But its growth is still insufficient to make complete provision for job creation.
Lack of investment in a country If no foreign investments are made in a country, there cannot be growth and jobs
cannot be created (e.g. sanctions and disinvestment, political and social instability, uncertainty of economic policy,
high company tax, fluctuations in interest rates).
Falling exports If a country does not export, no capital will be available to pay for the necessities which have to be
imported.
Apartheid policy
Inflation High rates of inflation can prevent a country from competing internationally, because the value of its
currency will keep on diminishing.
Automation
Rationalisation Refers to a reduction in the number of staff numbers as a result of the restructuring of the civil
service and government departments.
Affirmative action Relates to the elimination of the inequalities based on race, colour and gender which previously
existed in the formal sector.
Privatisation The privatisation of certain previously state-controlled services
Crime as a factor e.g. Various cases have been reported of subsistence farmers who took out loans to buy stock and
were ruined when all their stock was stolen.
Skills shortages
The education system
Young people and unemployment
Study by Hyslop:
It points out that job opportunities for young black people during the 1970s and 1980s had almost entirely stagnated.
During the same period, however, the number of black school pupils doubled.
Youth unemployment has both a structural and a cyclical dimension:
1. The structural dimension relates to the restructuring of job opportunities to benefit semiskilled and skilled people
rather than the unskilled.
2. The cyclical dimension deals with the expansion and reduction of economic activities.
Hartshorne (Chisholm 1992:2) divides young people into three main groups:
1. The largest of consists of those who either never attended school or dropped out before grade 6, and who can
therefore be classified as functionally illiterate.
2. Those who completed primary school but left school before the end of their high school careers
3. Those who completed their matric.
The first group consists of about one-third of the young people ± about a million in all ± who enter the job market every
year. These 300 000 young people can be added to the approximately six million illiterate people in this country.
In 2003 it was estimated that only 5% of all school leavers would find work in the labour market.
Unemployment and crime
Motivation Positive link between poor economic conditions (unemployment) and crime.
perspective Sources of motivation to commit crime
1. The frustration which arises when people are unable to keep a job and to maintain or improve their
standard of living.
2. The process of rational choice, in which individuals weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of crime
compared to those of living a law-abiding life - reason that they do not have much to lose if they are
caught and have to serve a prison sentence.
Opportunity Crime arises because at a given place and time there are both potential offenders and suitable victims.
perspective When unemployment increases, more people are at home and the possibility of crimes such as burglaries
will be reduced.
Unemployed parents supervise their children better, diminishes the opportunities for committing crimes.
Parental supervision diminishes when young people are employed, increase their opportunities to commit
crime.
Research which has attempted to confirm the link between unemployment and crime:
Dunstan, compared the connection between eight variables (unemployment, poor housing, isolation and income)
and nine pathological conditions (crime, juvenile delinquency, broken homes, death rates, mental illness, suicide
Adapted from: F.J.W. Herbig, et al., (2011) Study Guide for CMY2601, Crime Risk Perspectives, University of South Africa, Pretoria
