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Young people primary perpetrators of crime in SA: Scholar

todayJanuary 23, 2025 33

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A professor who has mastered knowledge on criminal behaviour, Professor Rudolph Zinn, says most of the murders which are committed in South Africa are done by the youth.

He says 85 % of these crimes are committed between individuals who know each other.

“If you look at South Africa’s statistics as far as murder is concerned, the majority of those murders, which is about 85%, take place between people who know each other and then the majority of murders that are committed in South Africa are committed by young people up to about the age of 25,” adds Professor Zinn.

He says this trend is especially prevalent among young men going through hormonal changes.

According to Professor Zinn, the absence of reputable role models in the young men’s lives also plays a significant role in such behaviour, citing that to compensate for the absence, boys resort to labelling serious criminals as leaders.

“If they then don’t have good role models and are led by the so-called well renowned criminals in society; those people become their role models and then they tend to use violence,” explains Professor Zinn.

Drawing insights from a study done by the United Nation’s three years ago on 193 countries of the globe where South Africa ranked second highest violent nation, the academic says the “Gap Theory” is true and plays a huge role in contributing towards criminal behaviour among young people.

“What seems to also play a huge role is the Gap Theory, which is between those people that have and those people that don’t have. It’s a perceived gap, it doesn’t have to necessarily be true, but if they think a shop owner is better than what they are themselves, they will then justify the need to commit crime,” says Professor Zinn.

His remarks come as the country reels from shock following the recent cold-blooded murder of two spaza shop owners, who were murdered in front of their kids in the North West by 23-year-old Kagiso Malemetja.

Professor Zinn says people who start committing crimes at a young age and are left unreprimanded off their risky behaviour have a proclivity to commit more heinous crimes in their adult life.

“Young people from the age of nine to 13 for the first time becoming involved in crime; if they are not caught and sanctioned, they then over time become more and more violent,” says Professor Zinn. “It’s a worldwide phenomenon, but in South Africa it is seen as an even bigger problem.”

The Professor has done numerous studies on Motor vehicle hijacking and says in one of them – he encountered one young man who came from an affluent background.

He confessed that he had to prove to his friends who still lived in the impoverished townships that he would be willing and able to commit violent crimes.

“He wanted to associate or to be recognised by his friend who still lived where he came from in the township areas, so he walked up to a gentleman, who was talking on his cell phone, sitting in his vehicle. He pointed a firearm at him and said the response he got from the gentleman wasn’t to his approval because the gentleman appeared calm and unphased, so he then fired the gun and shot the gentleman on the face.”

Professor Zinn says the young man wanted to appear intimidating and couldn’t accept the fact that the victim didn’t fear him.

The Criminal Studies Expert believes that the empowerment of young people through recreational activities, boosts their self-awareness and esteem.

He says when children recognise their strength in a particular activity, they develop strong and healthy minds.

Recreational programmes, he adds, are especially effective for children who hail from impoverished backgrounds, where crime is rife.

“We realised in research that we need to reach young people from the age of 9 to up to 20 more or less so that we can steer them away from crime,” says Professor Zinn.

“We start involving the in playing soccer and netball; we draw them in, and we develop integrity. We get them to participate in sports. Once they are involved and excel, we add benefits that they would get like computer centres in their communities and provision or airtime and wi-fi in order for them to do their homework and be able to study. It really makes a huge difference,” concludes Professor Zinn. Written by Odirile Rabolao

Written by: Lindiwe Mabena

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