INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY –CFSD 101

Term 1: 2024

Term 1 Course Content

Theme 1: An Introduction to Criminology in South Africa-

Crime and Criminology

Theme 2: The South African Criminal Justice System (CJS)

Theme 3: Criminological Theories (Schools of Thought)

Theme 4: Measuring the Levels of Crime

Theme 5 : Elementary Research Methodology in
Criminology and Forensic Studies

Prescribed Book:

Bezuidenhout, C (Editor). (2020). A Southern African

Perspective on Fundamental Criminology. Pearson
Education. South Africa.

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 Theme 1: An Introduction to Criminology in South Africa-
Crime and Criminology

Crime & criminal activities have always been part of human

existence.

Global perceptions on what should be deemed acceptable

& unacceptable behaviour change & many factors, directly
impact on what is deemed as crime & its causes.

What is Crime?
Different viewpoints
4 perspectives can be found in modern criminology:
1) Legalistic
2) Political
3) Sociological
4) Psychological

Perspective chosen will determine:

♠ Kinds of questions asked
♠ Nature of research we conduct

♠ And the type of answers that we expect to receive

How we see any phenomenon will determine:

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♠ Assumptions that we make about how that phenomenon
should be studied
♠ Influence our answers:
♠ Influence our conclusion about the kinds of crime control
policies that might be effective

1) Legalistic Perspective

Crime is a violation of the law for which the state may react
by punishment.

To constitute a crime 3 elements are essential:

♠ A violation of the law

♠ Punishment provided by law for the violation
♠ A right of the state to demand the punishment of the offender
by its courts

2) Political Perspective

Crime is a result of criteria that have been built into the law by
powerful groups.

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Defines crimes in terms of the power structures that exist in
society and states that criminal laws do not necessarily accept
any in-built relationship to the idea of right and wrong.

Class structured society e.g. USA.-powerful groups use their

power to establish criminal laws and sanctions against less
powerful people and groups of people that pose a threat to the
group in power.

3) Sociological perspective

Crime is an antisocial act of such a nature that its control is

necessary or is supposed to be necessary to the protection of
the existing system of society.

Other definitions-includes all forms of anti-social behaviour

(moralistic).

4) Psychological perspective

Crime is a form of social maladjustment-behaviour, which is

maladaptive i.e. that stands in the way of an individual
developing to his or her full potential (behavioural)

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Definitions of crime
"Crime" is derived from the Latin word crimen.

This means — judgement, accusation and defence.

Van Zyl (1996:7) defines crime as "the illegal, wilful, human
action that constitutes a transgression of the law, to which
is linked sentencing by a court of law after a hearing &
conviction".

 CRIME IS A VIOLATION OF THE LAW FOR WHICH

THE STATE IMPOSES PUNISHMENT

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Statutory Crime

Crime that has been codified (recorded) and published by

the government in statutes of law or legislation.

Common Law Crime

Crimes such as murder, theft & robbery that have been

codified or published by the government in any statutes of
law or government gazettes.

 These have been considered crimes for centuries and are

identified and defined by the Roman Dutch legal system.

 For example in South African Criminal law, robbery is

defined as the crime of unlawfully and intentionally using
violence to take property that belongs to another person.

 Robbery is a violent form of theft.

Values & Norms about crime

 Personal attitudes to crime are affected by many things:
racial, prejudice, cultural background & religious
convictions.
Recent studies in the USA have shown that the public
opinion on what constitutes a crime has changed over time,
as it is the case with prostitution, use of dagga etc.

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 The extent to which society considers a particular
behaviour to be good or bad determines to what extent it
will be criminalised or not & the level of punishment to fit
the crime.

Violent crimes: murder, rape

> Less serious crimes: Traffic offenses, speeding

Crimes that are perceived as serious

 There are several factors, including race, social class & the
changing political landscape which influence people's
viewpoints on the serious nature of particular crimes.

 A study in the United States (Brown et.al., 2007:6) has shown

the planting of bombs & premeditated murder of police
officials are seen as being serious crimes.
Crimes that are rated as serious in the South African Police
Service (SAPS) Police Plan are motor vehicle hijacking, taxi
violence, police corruption, possession of trade and trade in
illegal weapons, drug related crimes, serious economic
offenses & bank robberies.

Possession of illegal firearms, crimes against women and

children, corruption within the Criminal Justice System
(CJS) have also been identified as priorities for attention of
the SAPS.

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Who is a Criminal?

♠ Term criminal and offender are legally the same.

♠ At inception of trial, the person accused of having committed

a crime is traditionally referred to as the accused.

♠ Offender/ criminal / accused used interchangeably.

Although any person who breaks the criminal law is a criminal,

how are such persons to be identified by criminologists?

What is Criminology?

• Criminology is described as the scientific study of

crime-thus the main focus is crime.

Coined in 1889 by Paul Topinard

‘Ology’ study of something

‘Crimen’- Latin –“accusation, charge or guilt”

1) Linguistic definition:

♠ Literally means “The study of crime”

2) Disciplinary definition:

♠ Focuses on criminology as a discipline

♠ Criminology is a field of study or a body of knowledge
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3) Causative definition

♠ Emphasizes criminology’s role in uncovering the

underlying the causes of crime

4) Scientific definition:

♠ Criminology is a scientific study of crime, criminal, and

criminal behaviour.

Presently- Criminology is a social scientific discipline.

Field is interdisciplinary:

Draws upon other disciplines to provide an integrated approach

to understanding the problem of crime in contemporary society
and to advance solutions to the problems crime creates.

Criminology is an interdisciplinary profession built around the

scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour, including their
manifestations, causes, legal aspects and control.

Criminology –gives prominence to questions about the causes

of crime

Criminal justice-control of lawbreaking

Criminological study field:

1) Crime- juridical/ criminological (crime is an antisocial conduct

that is in conflict with the law or is injurious or detrimental to
sound normal life)
2) Criminal
3) Victim
4) Administration of Justice

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What do Criminologists do?

The criminologist

♠ Is someone whose professional training, occupational role

mainly relates to scientific approach to the study and analysis
of crime phenomena and criminal behaviour (Brown et al.,
2007, gibbons, 1994:5).
♠ One who studies crime, criminals, and criminal behaviour.

♠ Academics, researchers and policy analysts involved in the

study of crime and crime trends and in the analysis of
societal reactions to crime.
Main functions of criminologist:

 Lecturing at a university or institutions such as the

institute for security studies
 Being involved in community service by assisting
victims of various violent crimes such as domestic
violence at victim support organisations.
 In South Africa — some experts work in courts or
consult for organisations or the government to work on
the development of crime prevention programmes.
 Helps to explain crime and its consequences
A criminalist:

♠ a specialist in the collection and examination of the physical

evidence of crime

♠ Skilled investigators, crime laboratory technicians, fingerprint

experts, crime scene photographers, ballistics experts and
others who work to solve particular crimes.

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Theories are formulated after the information has been
gathered & give a better understanding of the functioning of
society & human behaviour.

Five theoretical approaches to crime

1. The classical deterrent approach / free will approach

Rests on the assumption that one has free will & can be
persuaded not to violate laws.

This goal can be achieved because people are rational

& decide how they want to behave.

2. The positivistic approach

Suggests that powers beyond one's control determine

behaviour & therefore also the committing of crime.

look for the causes of crime

3. The interactional approach

Concentrates on the actions & reactions of people to

other individuals & groups.
This approach provides an explanation of why people
are labelled as criminals.

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4. The critical / radical approach

Emphasises that the behaviour of individuals who do not

have power, is more easily criminalised than the
behaviour of individuals who do have power.

5. The integrated approach

Is based on the view that the best explanation of crime

can be given when a combination of two / more
approaches is used.

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