HUMAN VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION

 Human violence has always been part of human existence

 Use e of violence: obtained: goods of living, living space, protections,status, power
 Human violence is important for survival
 Aggression not always synonymous with violence and aggressive person is not
always violent
 Difficult to predict violence in humans
 Prediction is unreliable mechanism in determinant of “dangerousness” or aggression
in humans
 Problem with not predicting aggressiveness and dangerousness in people imprisoned
for dangerous behaviour

 Therapist consult with these people who talk about dangerous thoughts
 Therapist obligated to alert authorities without breach of privacy(Health Professionals
Council of South Africa-HPCSA obligated to do so)
MacArthur Risk Assessment Study:
1. Historical Variables: Employment , history, criminal record
2. Dispositional factors: Age, Mental capacity, personality
3. Contextual Variables: General living arrangements and availability of
dangerous weapons
4. Clinical factors: Psychiatric state of person and use of narcotics
 If prediction was used to determine future behaviour many people would end up in
Juridical system and will lead to many arrests
 Many people predicted to show violence never show violence
 Clinicians over-predict level of dangerousness
 Two out of three predictions are False Positive( labelled dangerous before their
release and don’t exhibit dangerous behaviour after release)

Defining aggression:
 Hostile(expressive) Aggression:
 shown in situations that elicit anger(evoke strong emotional responses.
 Aim: hurt or cause suffering to the person causing the anger
 Anger: state of arousal which elicits frustration or attack
 Automatic impulsive response
 Heightened emotions of situation undermine persons ability to control their feelings/
make rational decisions

 Instrumental Aggression:
  Caused by competition or wish to have something someone else has
 Relevant in robbery( thief focus on material goods)
 Aim: not to injure someone but emotional/material harm done to victim
 Perpetrator use force to obtain goal or merchandise
 Put just enough pressure on victim to comply
 (SA)- Many instrumental robbers use extreme force and violence to get what they
want( torture/kill victims)

 Gratuitous violence: showing of excessive unnecessary violence

 Perpetrator show unnecessary violence after obtaining materialistic goal
 Seem to be oblivious to severe impact aggression has on victim
 Perpetrator take a life for very small gain

Factors in aggression/violence
 Alcohol intoxication
 Drug Abuse
 Psychosis
 Neuropsychiatric conditions( dementia-caused by traumatic head injury)
People blame violence on:
 Socialisation
 Lack of opportunities
 Frustration
 Poverty
 Neighbourhood related factors
 Peer pressure
 Themselves being previous victims of abuse/neglect
Justifications of violent crimes:
 Personal/cultural beliefs
 Being an assertive person with an extroverted controlling behaviour
Violence:
 Sexualised(rape)
 Directed at specific victim(domestic violence)
 Directed at specific group(prejudice/ pre-conceived ideas)-hate crime against
homosexual people, xenophobic violence toward immigrants
 Socialisation(nurture) and genetic factors(nature) play a role in manifestation of
aggression

Human model behaviour:

1. Family members
2. Members of subculture peer group
 3. The media
Predetermined genetic constitution:
 Biological programming
 Physiological programming
 Psychological programming

 Predetermine human’s inclination to show aggression

 Social/Aggressive behaviour controlled by cognitive scripts learned and memorised
through daily experiences
 Script: determine how a person should behave in response to environmental stimuli
and what outcome of behaviour would be
 Script: cognitive script a person acquires overtime that stores in their memory and
used as a guide to guide behaviour/problem-solving
 Cognitive script: resistant to change once it has been programmed into memory
 Violent Script: rebellious and resisting authorities and discipline
 Locke: Development of mind is influenced by environmental
factors( determine which script is appropriate for the occasion)
 General volent behaviour caused by multi-dimensional factors( biological,
psychological, environmental, cultural, economical)
 (SA)-use violence as means of political or social expression
 Murder

 Seen in most countries as most horrifying human action

 Latin phrase: ‘malum in se’- murder is assessed as conduct that is evil and morally
wrong in itself
 Murder ends someone’s life and can never be rectified
 Moral feelings, pity, socialisation, public judgement have preventative effect on
‘malum in se’ offences
Definition of murder:
 Murder: unlawful and intentional killing of another person
Essential elements of murder:
1. Unlawfulness: killing must be unlawful(certain grounds that justify unlawful
killing-private defence, self-defence, official capacity, obedience to orders)
2. Killing: All types are prohibited.
Death is direct application of force to victims’ body(shooting, stabbing) and
Indirect( forceful suicide ect.)
Means used by perpetrator caused victim to die or victim wouldn’t have died
without persuasion of perpetrator
3. Person: Murder is committed against a living human being, born alive and
still breathing at time fatal action occurs
Abortion not considered murder
4. Intent: form of culpability required is intent.
Culpable Homicide: unlawful negligent or accidental causing of someone’s
death in the absence of intent.

Essential elements for culpable homicide:

1. Unlawfulness: Unintentional killing is unlawful and is punishable if death is
the result of negligence of the accused
Non-negligent killing is not unlawful
Lawfulness of killing is determined by the presence/absence of negligence on
part of the accused
Negligence was present: raise defence excluding unlawfulness(private
defence, superior orders, an arrest)
2. Killing: (most common)- motor vehivle accidents, careless handling of
firearms, negligent medical treatments, physical assault where death was not
foreseeable.
Must be determined that conduct of accused was factual/legal cause of
death
3. Human: Victim must be someone born alive
4. Fault: not all unintended homicides are unlawful and punishable.
Negligent homicide result in criminal sanctions/punishments
SA Criminal law don’t require gross negligence for culpable homicide liability
What is required is any slight deviation from the ‘reasonable person standard’
 A reasonable person would have foreseen the death might have occurred and
would have taken steps to prevent death( if reasonable person could not have
foreseen death then person is not guilty of culpable homicide)

 Therefore, Culpable homicide requires culpability

 Culpable Homicide require presence of negligence whereas Murder requires
presence of intent.

Serial MURDERS

 Multicide- random killing of several people in one episode or over s period of

time(serial, mass, spree murder)
 Minimum of 3-4 victims
 Great lengths to elude detection/apprehension
 Highly mobile and difficult to solve
 May choose marginalized victims(teenagers, minority groups)
 Primary motive not for material gain or to eliminate witnesses of crimes
 Serial murder: killing of at least two victims on two separate occasions over a period
of time(days, weeks, months, years, decades) with an emotional cooling off period in
between
 Differ in terms of race, social class, victim preference, modus operandi, level of
aggression and physical violence used during crime.
Organised serial killer characteristics:
 Normal to superior intelligence but are academic underachievers
 Completed secondary school education with some tertiary education but had
disciplinary problems in school( senseless acts of aggression)
 Tend to be from middle socio-economic class
 No record of mental health issues
 High birth order status
 Father from stable employment background
 Masculine image, charismatic, neat in physical appearance and well groomed
 Socially competent, outgoing and gregarious with good interpersonal skills
 Prefers schooled labour, but is occupationally mobile and even erratic with an
unsatisfactory work record
 Sexually capable
 Either married, in a romantic relationship, lives with a partner or has multiple
sexual partners
 Geographically mobile because they often own, or have access to a vehicle or
other modes of transport
 Experienced inconsistent discipline as a child
 Tend to kill after experiencing stressful life events( precipitating situational stress)
  Murders are committed to regain control of their lives or expel the stressful
feelings
 Tend to target strangers as their victims
 Controlled emotions/mood during murders
 Use alcohol during murders to bolster them to commit the crime
 Thinks about and plans murders
 Weapons and restraints are brought to the scene( planning evident)
 Modus operandi is adaptable, attempt to correct previous offences mistakes to
perfect the fantasy
 Victims are personalised, victims are not stripped of their identity and
individuality
 Commit sexual acts with live victims and torture them pre-mortem to heighten
their sense of control over the victim
 Use restrains on victim during murder
 Weapon/physical evidence absent at murder scene
 Hide/destroy/transport body of victim after murder in order to avoid detection
 Collects trophy from victim( jewellery)
 Change’s job or leaves are subsequent to murder
 High interest in media response to the crime and police investigation
 Is a model inmate in prison
Disorganised characteristics of s serial killer:
 Below average intelligence
 Drops out of secondary school education and unlikely to attend tertiary
education
 Low birth-order status
 Tend to come from middle to lower socio-economic class
 Documented history of mental disorders( psychotic, schizoid-type
behaviours
 Unlikely to be implode, if they are, job is unskilled
 Socially inept, find social interaction difficult
 Withdrawn loner with no close interpersonal friends
 Physical appearance unkept and behaviour may seem strange
 Sexually incompetent
 Seldom dates, likely to be single
 Father from unstable unemployment background
 Experience harsh discipline as a child
 Live alone and experience feelings of rejection
 Likely to know their victims
 Minimal situational stress experienced prior to murders
 Live/work near crime scene of victim( comfort zone)
 Murders are opportunistic and spontaneous( lack of planning)
 Weapon nit brough to scene but is found at the crime scene
 Murders occur chaotically/frenzy with anxious mood during murders
  Minimal use of restraints during murders
 Victims are killed quickly
 Have little regard for physical evidence and is left behind at crime
scene untidily
 Likely to leave weapon at the crime scene
 Victims are depersonalized, victims stripped for their identity and
individuality( objectifying/mutilating victims face)
 Engage in post-mortem behaviours with victim
 More likely to cannibalise victims
 Body left at scene and is easy to find
 Not mobile, less likely to use vehicle
 May take souvenirs from scene( body part of victim)
 Low interest in media attention/police investigation
 Limited alcohol consumption during murder
 High levels of anxiety during murder

MASS MURDER
 Little scientific evidence due to:
-less intriguing/mysterious than serial murder
-occur in single explosive event, is disturbing but occur without any warning and
attracts media attention and doesn’t occur over a period of days
-perpetrator is known after the event as they are either shot by police or commit
suicide( few mass murderers survive to be interrogated/studied)
Characteristics:
 Mass murder: Killing of multiple people in a single episode or during one event in
the same approximate location
 Have a minimum of 3-4 victims
 Kill as many people as possible to achieve their goal
 Are apprehended/killed by police, commit suicide or turn themselves in
 Feel their life has been a failure measured against their own standards and mass
murder is triggered by stressful events in their life
 Have history of psychiatric illness/treatment don’t have history of
institutionalisation/hospitalisation
 Don’t have criminal records
 Public shooters are white males who act alone age 35-45 who have no prospect of
improving their future
 Event is planned and organised and done in a calm systematic manner
 Not rational people at time of the killings(even if behaviour is decisive) they are
affected by chronic/acute stress and seek to regain control of their lives even for a
small period of time
 Have grandiose aspirations of fame and believe name will be immortalised in the
future
 Feeling of rejection, social alienation, failure, loss of autonomy leave them frustrated
and need to strike back against society
 Victims are symbolic of discontent/hatred/blamed for their misfortunes/failures
 As children(Mass murderer) isolated/bullied as child and feeling of social exclusion
 Feeling of extreme anger/resentment of past humiliating experiences and have
fantasies of revenge
 Feel compelled to leave final message for others
 Take an active interest in firearms(semi-auto/automatic weapons)
 Engage in private rituals to prepare for the murders(altering appearance, special
weapon, rehearsing murder) to alleviate tension/enhance control until murder is
executed

TYPOLOGIES OF MASS MURDERER

 The school-resentful type: Target school peers and motive is hostile revenge
-Depression/suicidal threats are present
-offender was bullied/discontented/socially alienated driven by feelings of
rejection/humiliation by school peers
-Often convey their mass murder intent to third-party peers

 The workplace-resentful type: resentful/disgruntled employee/ex-employee who is

upset with supervisor/co-workers and commits multiple murders in workplace
-these people externalise blame for their problems onto others and feel that they have
been treated unfairly
-Depression/Paranoid/Narcissistic traits present in perpetrator
-mental illness not defining category in this subtype of mass murders

 The indiscriminate-resentful type: offender filled with rage/depressed in

general/often paranoid
-Perpetrator choose to vent anger in public space
-victim group chosen by chance or on basis of convenience or ease of access

 The specific community-resentful pseudo-commando type: individuals with

paranoid character traits and strong feelings of anger/resentment/antagonism.
-Plan their attacks ritualistically and come prepared with powerful arsenal of
ammunition/weapons
-Possess warrior mentality
-include aggrieved clients or other deep feelings of malice and hostility towards an
identifiable group/culture/political movement
-focus their resentment/outrage on specific communities, groups based in reality.

 The pseudo-community psychotic pseudo-commando type: driven by paranoid

character traits, driven by strong feelings of anger/animosity/hostility, plan attack and
come prepared with ammunition/weapons
 -Only those who experience paranoid/persecutory delusions flowing from a psychotic
disorder
-focus on groups they believe( in a state of delusion) are persecuting/tormenting them
-focus attack on pseudo-community that they define on the basis psychosis/strong
paranoid cognitions and victims they resent towards are not based in reality.

 The Familial-depressed type: has bearing on member who is suffering from

depression and possible psychotic features
- Murders flow from cognitions distorted by
depression/hopelessness/psychosis/resentment towards estranged spouse
- Depressed parent kills most of their family unit because they believe the act will
deliver their family from what they perceive as hardships or incessant ancestors.

 Mass murder should be approached according to the biopsychosocial explanatory

model:
1. Biological factors: brain pathology/psychiatric illness( depression/psychosis)
2. Psychological factors: negative/weak self-image a strong sense of entitlement
and vulnerability to humiliation
3. Social factors: Social isolation/Alienation/radicalisation/being bullied/marital
strife/financial hardships

SPREE MURDER

 Spree murder: person/persons who kill several within a period of

hours,days,weeks,months in several different locations
 Follow no distinct pattern in killing
 Are extremely agitated, make little effort to avoid detection and kill in several
sequences in several different events
 Kill more than one person in a specific location but move to several other
locations(distinguishing from mass murders)
 No cooling off period( distinguish them from serial murderers)
 Spree murders also referred to as cluster murders
 Anger/Uncontrolled hostility is the basis of spree killing
 Commit suicide but do it at a later stage when they are about to be apprehended by the
police
 Kill chaotically/randomly with no similarities in victims
 Distinguish them from multicide: they occur in the course of other criminal
activity( robbery)

MUTI-RELATED KILLINGS
 Muti: refer to innocent herbal cure prepared by a traditional healer using plant-based
materials, minerals and water
 Human body-parts/organs used in relation to muti has obvious criminal implications
 When person dies in relation to obtaining organs/body-part for muti, murder was not
the intention of the attack
 Preference is that victim is alive during procedure to obtain more potent muti
 Victims die during,after procedure due to excruciating pain, blood loss, surgical
shock( not uncommon for victims to survive these attacks)
 Survivors are left maimed, disfigured and partially disabled
Under-reported muti related killing reasons:
 Muti-related murders/attacks not disaggregated from general murders, difficult to ger
exact number of these killings as they are filed as normal murder attempted murder,
assault, kidnapping
 Not all muti-related attacks/killings recognised in SA due to high crime rate in SA
 Most muti-attacks occur in rural areas( fewer police resources are able to do
investigation)
 Victims of such crimes are not found at all or found accidentally( delay in summer
months as bodies decay faster due to heat and complicate body identification)
 Some SA officials prescribe to muti themelves and make them fearful to investigate
such crimes
 Perpetrators released due to lack of evidence and when on trial withhold information
about their motifs
 Rumour of powerful politicians involved in producing/purchasing muti containing
human tissue and result in role-players and the CJS purposefully ignore cases because
they fear reprisals

Defining muti murder:

 Muti is IsiXhosa transliteration of IsiZulu word umuthi( tree)
 Refer to traditional medicine prepared by Traditional Health Practitioner(THP)
 THP-Individuals who are competent to provide healthcare using
plants,animal,mineral substances
 Biological paradigm-approaches disease through culture-free. Neutral, scientific
standardised lens
 Traditional healing paradigm-founded on indigenous knowledge system where
THP imbedded in cultural practices of people
 Traditional Health Practitioners Act 22 of 2007: Create Interim Traditional Health
Practitioners Council
- Provide regulatory framework to ensure efficacy, safety, quality of traditional
healthcare services
- Provide management/control over registration, training, conduct of practitioners,
students and specified categories of THP

FOUR CATEGORIES OF THP

1. Diviners: ( izangoma, umthandazi, amagqirha(faith healers))prepare
traditional medicines rely on divination/communication with
ancestors( amadlozi) for healing powers, purposes
 2. Herbalists: ( izinyanga, amaxhwele) work with medicines made from
herbs and plants and pass knowledge through generations in intense
internships
3. Traditional Birth attendant: ( ababelethisi, abazalisi)
4. Traditional surgeons: ( iingcibi) who do circumcisions

 Muti killings: loosely defined as deaths that result from the harvesting human body-
parts/ organs for the use of traditional medicine for different specialised reasons.
 Taking someone’s life for the purpose of muti has a strong cultural meaning and
doesn’t imply murder in the Westernised sense of the word
 Muti killing stem from the complex system of thought that is perceived to be common
place, acceptable, rational and moral
 Someone is killed for someone elses gain it is deemed a crime in a constitutional
democracy
 Muti killings threaten the integrity of traditional health practices and indigenous
knowledge systems
 THP denounce muti killings, done by healers driven by profit, criminals hiding under
a traditional healers name and unscrupulous healers.
 Gruesome manner in which people die negates the humanness ubuntu that values
human life and dignity
Muti killing explained:
 Linked to ‘life force’ in African cosmology
 Humans possess the greatest ‘life force’
 Adversity is seen as a decrease in ‘life force’
 Balance can be restored by obtaining the vital force of another being in the universe
through ‘amadlozi’(ancestors)
 There is a specific amount if life force in the universe
 When a person is successful, believed they have received an extra portion of life force
through devious means
 Seen that it can be gained by seeking ancestral support through strong muti prepared
by THPs
 Muti containing human body-parts/organs are very potent because they carry the life
force of their victim

Muti killing role-players:

 Buyer/Client: contact THP to correct a perceived problem

- Unique reasons for seeking muti( financial, political gain)
- Muti is dependent on advice of THP to get correct muti for clients’ needs
- THP recommends use of body-parts
- Clients role is restricted to consultation, payment and receiving of muti
- Muti containing body-parts is expensive and beyond he reach of most of the SA
population( wealthy members of society)
- THP abuse belief system to extort money from client
 - Some clients initiate the use of body-parts in muti

 Traditional Health Practitioner(THP): Determine subsequent ingredients for

specific muti needed for client
-Hire a third-party to obtain human muti and provide instructions on how to obtain the
muti using the prescribed methods
-Some THP harvest muti themselves to avoid unnecessary payment often targeting
their own family/children
-THP do not stock mass body-parts for the risk of getting caught with the possession
of body-parts
-Muti is most potent when harvested freshly as per client’s request

 The procurer( third party): unemployed and desperate to earn an income

-Procurers prescribe to traditional beliefs of muti themselves
-motives in participation are either financial or traditional
-THP may use apprentice as part of training
-cost saving strategies as apprentices don’t need to be paid
-Procurer knows victims well in order to know what traits they possess for potent
muti( target close family members)
- Victims are chosen due to their availability/accessibility not requirements
- older generation used as they prescribe to the traditional belief system
-available weapons used ( pocket/kitchen knives)
-Procurer job end after harvesting and their pay is assumed at the bottom of the muti
killing hierarchy
- Procurers are opportunistic as well as organised and part of syndicates
-muti killing adopting more opportunistic nature by financial profit( people caught
stealing body-parts from hospitals/fresh corpses)

 The victim: possess characteristics required to meet clients needs( carefully chosen)
-Majority of victims are strangers
- Age from young infants to adults, older people not chosen( muti is powerless
and ineffective)
-Profitableness has tended to see victims chosen based on availability/accessibility
-Children/woman are most victims( easy to overpower)

 Human body-part used due to power they produce and insufficient power from other
sources
Human body-part representations:
 Human hands: symbolise possession( attract customers to ensure thriving business)
 Human eye: personifies vision(producing insight to success)
 Human ear: opening up customers ears to listen to views of business owner
 Human tongue: improve luck in romance( smoothing path to lovers heart)
 Skull: (buried by business) allow prosperity and protection of business from enemies
 Brain: Improve intelligence
 Genitals: represent luck (male-increase sex drive/performance female-increase
productivity of business children- unused and produce more powerful muti)
 Female breast: Improve fertility and dependence of people on business owner
 Placenta: overall good luck/prosperity and ward off infertility
 Albino body-part: bring infinite luck

INTIMATE-PARTNER FEMICIDE

 Definition that it is the death of females resulting from any form of abuse from males
 Intentional killing of females because of their gender
 Killing of woman by an intimate partner (male partner-husband/common law
partner/boyfriend/ same sex)
 Leading Cause in SA of unnatural female deaths
 Domestic relationship is also included- various types of relationships
Strategies to prevent IPV:
 Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998
 Reinstatement of specialised police unit( Family violence/child protection/sexual
offences unit(FCS))
 Integrated Victim Empowerment Policy(IVEP)- enhance support systems/restoring
relationships/protecting victims
 Victim Empowerment Programme(VEP)- enhancing knowledge on victims rights and
provide services to IPV victims
 16 Days of Activism against Woman and Child Abuse(25 Nov-10 Dec)
 Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence Programme(PIPV)-challenging patriarchal
views and addressing unequal power relations

 ¼ of SA woman assaulted by partner regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural

background, economic status
 Woman stay in abusive relationship for 10 years and are abused approximately 39
times
IPV IN SA:
 Divorced/separated woman more likely to experience physical abuse
 Woman living on lowest wealth quartile/ with no education experience most sexual
abuse
 Woman experience of IPV decreases with the increase wealth in the household
 Woman have high risk of IPV when pregnant as well as 9 months after postpartum
 During pregnancy owing to poor physical health(preterm labout, vaginal bleeding)
 Deteriorating mental health/emotional distress( baby born underweight/ increased
preterm birth)
 Men also victims of IPV( Due to gender role expectations frowned upon and
underreported)
Explaining intimate-partner femicide:
 Occur in homes where domestic violence is a major factor
 Male perpetrators have characteristics of abuse in school, low self-esteem,
immaturity, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, patriarchal attitude towards woman and
children, economic problems
 Perpetrators of IPV are men who are regarded as violent before they killed their
partners due to regular use of violence before
 Pathway to violence start off in childhood( emotionally detached parents, absent
fathers, parental death, harsh discipline)
 Parental abandonment/ betrayal create deep mistrust in others( propel them into anti-
social criminal activities)
 Perpetrator likely to own a gun, be drug addict or stalker
 Wide use of guns to kill partner in IPV symbolise range of power/ Masculinity
 Male have access to firearm and work in authoritative positions
 Methods: strangulation, blunt force using hands, feet, sharp objects(knife)
 Closer/More intense relationship between perpetrator and victim in IPV more brutal
the violence and lead to overkilling
 Overkilling: victim sustains multiple injuries that go beyond those necessary to cause
death( multiple injuries/ one or more cause of death)
 Motivation for IPV in men: Jealousy, power, control, patriarchal notions of men that
woman are property of males
 Extreme male sexual jealousy/proprietariness is linked to ownership of partner and
entitlement,
 Killing of partner is final attempt to exert control over partner
 Emotional/physical violence precede the killing
 Use of firearms, partner most likely commit suicide after IPV death of partner

ASSAULT
 Two most common assault in SA criminal law: common assault/ assault with intent
to do grievous bodily harm
 Crime of assault encapsulated both that of the body(corpus) and mind(mens)
 Inspiring fear in those wanting to commit suicide is grounds for assault
 Assault(SA Criminal Law): unlawfully and intentionally applying force to a person
of another or inspiring a belief in the other person that force is immediately to be
applied to him/her
Elements of common assault:
 Unlawfulness: number of circumstances where assault is justified(human beings are
socially interactive creatures)
 -Most common being disciplinary physical chastisement(corporal punishment) of
children by parents or guardians/ assault while resisting
burglars/trespassers/thieves/robbers while resisting unlawful arrest(legitimate private
defence of property/person where there is consent from victim

 Force: punishes direct application of force/ unlawful touching and inspiring fear in
the minds of others(pointing firearm whether loaded or not)
-Assault can also be indirect( setting dog on other person)

 Intention: mere intention to frighten someone is grounds for assault

 Assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm: assault which causes serious
physical injury
Elements of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm:
 Assault: Application of actual force, directly or indirectly to the person of the other is
required

 Grievous bodily harm: assault in such a nature that interferes with health of victim

 Intent: not requirement that perpetrator should actually cause grievous bodily harm
Mere intention to cause harm is enough to constitute this type of assault
May still be guilty of this assault if they intended to do grievous bodily harm but was
minor injuries
If perpetrator inflicts serious injury without intention to do so it does not constitute
this type of assault

ASSAULT-SCHOOL VIOLENCE

 Impact on child’s right to be educated in a safe environment

 School violence: intentional physical, non-physical(verbal) act resulting in physical
pain and or non-physical pain( psychological/emotional) being inflicted on the
recipient of the act
Different violence in schools:
 Physical violence( beating, killing)
 Verbal violence( derogatory comments, insults, criticism)
 Relational violence(causing damage to relationships or social standings)
 Emotional violence( diminishing sense of dignity, identity, self-worth through
ostracising, humiliation)
 Sexual violence( making unwanted sexual advances)
 Cyber violence( sexting, defamation)
 School bullying: intentional, repeated harmful words, acts or other behaviour
committed by a child on another child
-repeated oppression( psychological/physical) of a less powerful person by a more
powerful person
 Bullying: intentionally hurting a fellow learner by placing the victim under constant
pressure
Characteristics of the act of bullying:
1. Intent to harm- bully finds pleasure in taunting/hurting other people
2. Intensity and duration- extended over periods of time with great potency
3. Power imbalance- between perpetrator and victim( age, size, gender)
4. Vulnerability- victim appear so due to apparent inability to defend themselves
and are chosen purposefully
5. Lack of support: incident of bullying not reported due to lack of support
6. Long term consequences- withdraw from school activities, drop out as result
of hostile environment created by offender
Explaining school violence/bullying
 School fights take place regularly and spiral out of control
 Shootings/stabbings take place between fellow learners/ rival schools
 Schools becoming gun sights of violence for all involved
 More than 50% learners bullied in some way
 Cyberbullying from fellow students can cause trauma
 Acts of violence digitally recorded and shared and expose victim to further public
humiliation
 Any learner can become victim of bullying
 Learner on teacher violence escalating( threat with weapon, sexual advances)
 Teachers fear for personal safety( resignation, transfer, leave of absence)
 Unmarried female teachers with low qualification are at greater risk
 Suffern personal and professional consequences
 Personal- fear, anxiety, stress, frustration, anger, headaches, depression
 Professional-resignation, transfer, leave of absence

VEHICLE HIJACKING

 Perpetrator forcefully demands that victim should hand over the car in their
possession and immediately disarms the vehicles alarm system or deactivates satellite
tracking system
 Done from orders of client or to export to overseas country
 Vehicle forcefully taken without consent
 Driver kidnapped under duress and is detained as hostage or forced to drive car to
certain location
Preferred times/places
 Friday 8-11PM / 11AM-3PM
 Hotspots: Gauteng( Arcadia/Sunnyside), KwaZulu-Natal( Sydenham/Imbali/Avoca
Hills), Western Cape( Philippi/Khayelitsha/Maitland)
 Driver is taken hostage
Top 5 Vehicle Hijacking trends
1. Vehicles hijacked at fuel stations: approach people while filling up fuel from
blind spot and force them out of the vehicle
2. Stranger Danger: approached at entertainment places by strangers who
befriend them and spike their drink and take vehicle
3. Blue Light Robberies: pulled over by impersonating police officers in
unmarked vehicles who then take your car
4. Vehicles stolen during house robberies: people overpowered in homes and
car is taken along with other possessions
5. Vehicle driver hijacked after being followed home: follow vehicle driver to
home where they are boxed in and can steal their car( assailant wait until
owner enters property when security gate is blocked from closing behind
them)
Reason for hijacking vehicle:
 Used to commit other crimes(CIT Hesits)
 Exported to other African countries(demand for right hand drive cars)
 Specific vehicles hijacked on order for client via a crime syndicate
 Industry of spare parts drives hijacking for spare parts in ‘chop shops’
 Luxury vehicles are status symbols and are sold back into market and
reregistered with aid of corrupt officials
 Advancement in vehicle technology, hotwiring is obsolete and new remote
jamming is more effective( makes less dangerous for drivers and make
recovering/tracking more difficult)

 Use of forearms is more common and close range wounds(torso trauma) is

more evident( mortality is significant)

BANK ASSOCIATED ROBBERIES

 Bank associated robberies: Robbing of cash or attempt to do so and is directed at a

bank client or delegate of the client at any stage while on route to or from a bank
branch/ATM/Cash centre/ inside the branch to make a deposit or withdrawl
 Involves specific modus operandi
 Prominent: following of victim after withdrawing cash from bank/ATM and robbing
them en route to residence or business premises
 Victims lured into vehicles of ploy of offering them a lift (use minibus, fake being
taxi)
 Victim robbed of bank card and forced to give them their PIN
Modus operandi
 Group of 2-6 people
 Spotters: observe identify potential victims
 -not part of actual rpbbery
-older experienced robbers(started as gunmen)
-larger operation more than one used to increase possibility of identifying suitable
victim
-Attire- suit, use electronic devices to create impression they belong to a bank and
conduct legitimate business( difficult to identify criminal intentions)

 Gunmen: young men who are physically strong and intimidating

- Execute robbery based on information from spotter
- 2-3 or more used when larger sums of money are at stake

 Drivers: possess superior driving skills

-ensure gunmen escape robbery quickly and safely

Successful attack dependent on:

 Minimum of 2 vehicles( spotter vehicle licenced/ gunmen vehicle stolen from
hijacking to reduce risk of being traced)
 Each gunmen required firearm: handgun(easy to conceal, illegal, unlicenced,
rented from other criminals)
- Not difficult to get firearm( corruption)

 Cellular phones: communication between spotter, gunmen, driver crucial( cell phone
with SIM used but discarded after every 2-3 robberies)
- No text messages and names used under pseudonyms

 Legitimate bank account: with all major banks in SA needed, indispensable as they
look like they have business to take care of

 Target selection: facilitated by behaviour of victim identified by spotter to be

vulnerable or in possession of large amount of money

-Shopping centres/malls across from highway/main road are preferred to scout for
potential targets( effortless/rapid getaway)

RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

 The Criminal Law( Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of
2007:
-replaced previous legislation for being to archaic, illogical, discriminatory
 Rape: person who is unlawfully and intentionally commits an act of sexual
penetration with another person without the persons consent