Misdaad vir Beginners

Die berig wat ek hier onder aanhaal bevorder nie juis die debat oor die verband tussen armoede en misdaad nie.  Dit is hoofsaaklik 'n spieëlbeeld van wat die man in die straat glo - en hoe armer hy is, hoe meer skuil hy agter armoede vir sy oortredinge. Armoede word waarskynlik eintlik verwelkom want dit regverdig die hool waarin ons leef: Ons kan 'n vinger na iets behalwe ons self wys...en wie hou nou eintlik van 'n *ryk* man?  Selfs die Bybel sê dat die rykes met moeite die hemel sal inkom. Dit maak dit maklik om die blaam te verplaas na iets buite ons self. Ons kan dus maar voortgaan met ons misdadige lewens (en CD's en DVD's onwettig gebruik), welgeluksalig in ons wete dat ons nie te blameer is vir ons *afwykings* nie!

Ek het veral aan die begin van hierdie blog heelwat ruimte aan die armoede-kwessie bestee en herhaal maar net dat die verband tussen misdaad en armoede nie eenvoudig is nie en dat ons opvoeding en kultuur ook ter sake is.

Let op die stukkie breedsprakigheid wat apartheid ook hierby insleep:

"Sociologists feel that the unusual violence associated with crime here has to do with cultural 'depersonalisation' which has been the net outcome of the repression associated with apartheid. The culture then becomes self perpetuating and worsens. Perpetrators see the victims as 'other' and not as a part of their culture...."

Ek wys veral in my opmerkings oor Swart Kultuur dat ook hierdie punt nie so eenvoudig is nie.

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4646812

NEWS
Poverty singled out as the cause of escalating crime
October 6, 2008

Johannesburg - Most South Africans believe that poverty is the root cause of escalating crime levels in the country, a survey by TNS Research Surveys revealed on Monday.

"Three quarters of the 2000 adults from the seven major metropolitan areas of South African cities agreed that crime was mainly caused by poverty," The company's director of Innovation and Development Neil Higgs said.

While this view was held by the majority of people from various cultural, economic and religious spheres, it was those living in informal settlements and backyard dwellings who strongly agreed.

Eighty-four percent of those living in shacks held this view, followed closely by hostel residents and backyard dwellers at 72 and 77 percent respectively.

"The extreme differences in perspective on poverty as a root cause amongst shack dwellers show the desperate circumstances in which these people feel that they are and the possible desperate measures they see happening all around them by those who want a better life. The urgent need for service delivery, at the very least, is tangible here," Higgs said.

The survey also looked at perceptions held by South Africans regarding the impact of racial discrimination from the past on crime.


Only 51 percent of those surveyed blamed past injustices as the root cause of crime. The majority of white people (30 percent) surveyed disagreed on this while 65 percent of Indians and 55 percent of blacks and coloureds agreed.

"Sociologists feel that the unusual violence associated with crime here has to do with cultural 'depersonalisation' which has been the net outcome of the repression associated with apartheid. The culture then becomes self perpetuating and worsens. Perpetrators see the victims as 'other' and not as a part of their culture," Higgs said.

While the study generally found that most South Africans believed that crime was not going down, they were hypocritical in that they continued to buy pirated DVD's and CD's and refrained from reporting those they knew to be buying stolen goods.

"Over eight out of ten people feel that crime levels are not dropping, yet a fifth of these very people admit their willingness to buy pirated goods. A quarter of people surveyed know others who have bought stolen goods. Had these people been reported to the police, the market for stolen goods would disappear," he said. - Sapa