NCJ Number
164579
Journal
Acta Criminologica Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (1996) Pages: 40-57
Date Published
1996
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the methodology and findings of a study of recidivism among a sample of South African offenders.
Abstract
During the planning phases of the research in 1993, records of 2,359,189 offenders with previous convictions were registered at the Criminal Record Centre. These offenders constituted 55.3 percent of the approximately 4,265,000 known offenders on record. With due consideration to recent changes in policy, socio- political circumstances, and practical and financial factors, the researchers decided to select a saturated (non-probability) sample of the offenders who were reconvicted in 1993. An information schedule was used to record the crime histories and particulars of 4,832 offenders. This sample amounted to 4 percent of those offenders reconvicted in 1993. The majority of those who recidivated were in the age group 20-31. A pro rata analysis of the crime histories of the sample challenges any notion or stereotype that suggests only one population group offends exclusively within a particular category of crimes. The dynamic and diverse features of the crime phenomenon are confirmed instead. Women engaged in a diversity of crimes, including serious physical and violent crimes. A limited degree of crime specialization was observed. This finding undermines any attempts to predict specific victimization risks or predict the nature of an offender's future criminal behavior. Most of the crimes involved in the reconvictions were property crimes. 4 tables, 3 figures, and a 41-item bibliography