Centre of Criminology

2007 – 2013

Director’s Reflections

Vision

About the Centre

Reaching out through workshops

Students

- PhD research topics

- Open door to visitors

Research, made real

Merl cool innovation

Loud and proud: our publications

- Books

- Reports

Spreading the word

- Talking up a storm

- Going Digital

- Visiting Speakers

Contact details

Imagine

Innovate

Integrate

Director’sReflectionsThis report brings to an end a seven-year period, during which I have been privileged to be the Chair of Criminology and the Director of the Centre of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. 2013 also brought to a close my tenure as the incumbent of the South African National Research Foundation Chair of Security and Justice.

The past seven years have been extraordinarily productive, during which the Centre’s staff and students have made outstanding contributions to the field of criminology, and to the safety and security of people across South Africa and beyond.

We can look back on these achievements with pride, as the Centre moves forward into 2014.

Prof Clifford Shearing

Prof Clifford Shearing

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To be an Africa focused and globally engaged academic institution, at the cutting edge of criminological thinking, policy and practice.

Vision

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About the CentreThe Centre of Criminology is a research unit within the Department of Public Law, in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town. It hosts the National Research Foundation Research Chair in Security and Justice. Here, we undertake research, theory building, policy and practical initiatives.

Quiet spaces: big ideas

The spaces within the Centre encourage creativity, research and dialogue.

The Centre has six core objectives

1 Promote the development of young African scholars

2 Foster theoretical developments through innovative research within scholarly networks

3Enhance security and justice by encouraging policy developments and practical initiatives through partnerships with business, governments and communities

4Engage with established areas of enquiry within criminology, while working at its margins to stretch its boundaries

5 Provide physical spaces that facilitate learning

6Enable digital spaces that connect students, scholars, policy analysts, practitioners and communities through global electronic databases

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Students are vital in realising the Centre’s vision, by participating in local

and global forums, presenting papers at conferences, and by publishing their

research and thinking.

Graduate students at honours, masters and doctoral levels make a crucial contribution

to the Centre’s vibrant life.

Students

Reaching out through workshopsOur mission at the Centre is to take the ideas that grow in the fertile minds of this vibrant institution, and spread them beyond our campus. We do this through working with communities, civil society organisations, local and national governments, and other academics, in workshop environments.

Some of the topics we’ve covered include:

- accountability within the private security industry

- stress-testing the methodology used by criminologists in our various fields

- exploring the links between environmental sustainability and community resilience, through discussing issues of agriculture, energy, food security and the green new deal, amongst others

- how to govern in the context of environmental matters

- how to police conflict and violence, and the challenges facing police in terms of public violence

- looking at real-life examples which show how to foster lasting peace in post-conflict settings

- boosting security in the transport sector for the 2010 soccer World Cup, hosted by South Africa

- how the state and the public can work together, sustainably, to police communities in the uniquely South African context

- how asset forfeiture can be used as a way to fight crime and corruption

- and, finally, the big question that faces our discipline: what, indeed, is criminology for?

A fertile ground for new ideasThe Centre’s research programmes investigate areas of policy reform, peacekeeping, plural policing, the social history of criminal justice, the penal policy, organised violence and environmental security governance.

Passing it onThe Centre’s graduate supervision and post-graduate classroom teaching programmes are targeted at honours and masters levels.

www.criminology.uct.ac.za/usr/criminology/brochure.pdf

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Julie Berg, Senior Lecturer

Regulating Polycentric Governance:

An Exploration of Security Governance within

South Africa’s Urban Improvement Districts -

Julie Berg

Governing Conflict in a Diverse Society: A Comparative Study of Violence against African Foreign Nationals in Khayelitsha and Langa - Woohyun Chung

Neighbourhood Politics and Organising in an Informal Urban Space: The Formation of Leadership Committees in Three of Cape Town’s Informal Settlements - Laura Drivdal

Governing Risk in Socio-Ecological Landscapes: Climate Change and Insurance - Tom Herbstein

PhD research topics include:

- considered human rights and the policy response to crime and deviance, with the International Council for Human Rights

- discussed police reform in Africa with the SAPS, the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), and others

- investigated social control and human rights with the Centre for Human Rights

Merlcool innovationThe Multi-Media Electronic Resource Library (MERL) offers a physical space that is comfortable, visually compelling, and technologically sophisticated.

www.criminology.uct.ac.za/media/vids/

Research,made realIt’s important that the ideas which grow and thrive in our research environment, spread beyond academia. We want these ideas to have a practical application and bring about meaningful change in our society.

That’s why we work closely with civil society, government, and the private sector, so that our research can help shape policy and steer practice.

Amongst others, this work has: - brought together parliamentarians, private security

firms and urban renewal experts to navigate the challenges of accountability within the private security sector

- brought together community and civil society representatives to discuss dispute resolution through peace committees in our informal settlements

- looked at issues of finance and environmental sustainability with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

- navigated the issue of food security in the city, with Cape Town-based urban farming organisation Abalimi Bezekhaya

- fostered greening school curriculums with the LEAP Science and Maths School

- supported research on illicit drug trafficking with the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks

- investigated the implications of insurance and environmental sustainability with Santam, Old Mutual, and UNEP

Prof. Elrena van der Spuy

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Books:

Loud and proud:our publicationsSince 2007, the Centre’s staff and post-graduate students have published: nine books, six special journal issues, 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 30 book chapters.

Froestad, J. with Shearing, C. 2013. Security Governance, Policing, and Local Capacity. Advances in Police Theory and Practice Series. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Super, G. 2013. Governing through Crime in South Africa: The Politics of Race and Class in Neoliberalizing Regimes. Abingdon: Ashgate.

Cartwright, J. & Shearing, C. 2012. Where’s The Chicken? Making South Africa Safe. Cape Town: Burnet Media.

Gunningham, N., Holley, C. & Shearing, C. 2012. The New Environmental Governance. Earthscan.

Joubert, L. with photos by Miller, E. 2012. The Hungry Season: Feeding Southern Africa’s Cities. Picador Africa (Pan MacMillan).

Wood, J. & Shearing, C. 2007. Imagining Security. Cullompton: Willan Publishers.

Tait, S. & Van der Spuy, E. (eds). 2010. Cooperation and Accountability in the Cross-border Policing of Southern Africa Cape Town: APCOF and Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town.

Ayling, J., Grabosky, P. & Shearing, C. 2009. Lengthening the Arm of the Law: Enhancing Police Resources in the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press.

Johnston, L. & Shearing, C. 2011. (eds). Innovative Possibilities: Global Policing Research and Practice (Police Practice and Research) IPES Series. Routledge.

Reports:

Santam Group, the WWF, the University of Cape Town, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 2011. Insurance in a Changing Risk Landscape: Local lessons from the Southern Cape of South Africa. A report by the research partnership in collaboration with the 20 United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. Available online:

www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/insurance_changing_risk_landscape.pdf

Contested Governance: Police and Gang Interactions - Irvin Kinnes

From Re-Entry to Restoration: Cultural Principles of Prisoner Rehabilitation – Andrew May

The State of the State: Effects on the Contours of Non-State Governance in South Africa and Zimbabwe – Tariro Mutongwizo

New Security Governance: Transnational Private Actors, Neoliberalism and the Art of Enrolment - Sophie Nakueira

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Talking up a storm

The Centre of Criminology engages across sectors and disciplines to promote “best thinking” that will translate into excellence in policy and practice. We believe that “good theory makes for good policy, and good policy makes for good practice”.

Sustainability and Risk in the Informal Economy: A Study in the Regulation of Risk - Moliehi Shale

Modalities of Regulation: A Case Study of the Informal Recycling Economy in Cape Town - Suzall Timm

Meet the post-docsOver the past seven years, six postdoctoral fellows have assisted with research, mentored students, contributed to publications, and engaged in experiential learning.www.criminology.uct.ac.za/about/students/postdoc/

Honorary research associatesHonorary research associates play an active and significant role.www.criminology.uct.ac.za/about/friends/

International visitorswww.criminology.uct.ac.za/about/visitors/

Spreadingthe word

We have made a point of bringing in invited speakers, all experts and leaders in their respective fields, to infuse our Centre with new ideas and stimulate debate. These are just some of the South African thought leaders who have visited our Centre:

• Antony Altbeker, independent consultant, public policy lecturer, and award winning author of The Dirty Work of Democracy: A Year on the Streets with the SAPS

• Brenda Martin, founding director of Project 90X2030, a civil society organisation geared towards mobilising all sectors of society to “do their bit to preserve the environment, committed to changing the way they live by 90% by the year 2030”

• Cormac Cullinan, environmental lawyer and author whose work has shaped government policy and won him numerous awards, including a 2008 listing in Planet Savers: 301 Extraordinary Environmentalists

• Denis Davis, high court judge

• Anthony Turton, water resource management expert, consultant and activist

• Don Pinnock, a leading thinker and writer whose work in criminology has shaped juvenile justice policy in South Africa, while his travel writing has won him wide acclaim

• Harald Winkler, a leading energy expert in South Africa, whose work with the Energy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town has shaped the government’s approach to greenhouse gas emissions cuts, and has taken him to several United Nations climate negotiations to support the country’s negotiating team

• The late Kader Asmal, member of the South African parliament and key water policy advocate

• Willie Hofmeyr, National Prosecuting Authority

We have spread our work beyond the Centre through digital courses, seminars, workshops, videos, podcasts, presentations, publications and student exchanges.

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Visiting Speakers

Going DigitalWe developed two digital courses, Trends in the Governance of Security, and Crime and Social Control in Africa, which have been used to support teaching on security and justice within African tertiary institutions.

We also produced an innovative animated video on food security, The Hungry Season.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX77NZttLKo

Our visiting lecturers from abroad have come from some of leading institutions, including: Oxford and Leeds Universities, and the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom; Leipsig, Berlin and Ruhr Universities in Germany; Canadian Universities, including Ryerson, Montreal, and Ottawa; Australia’s National University, as well as Wollongong and New South Wales Universities; Rutgers, Albany and Washington State Universities from the United States; the University of Jos, Nigeria; and the University of Bergen, Norway.

Northern Ireland’s Community in Transition Peace Project, Kenya’s Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies, and the Dutch police had an opportunity to infuse the Centre with their experience, amongst others.

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Open door to visitors:

Over the past several years, the Centre has welcomed scholars and students from over 10 different countries.

www.criminology.uct.ac.za/about/students/visiting/

Verbatim: Teresie Hommersand, Norway:I felt very welcome, and received assistance and guidance from the staff and fellow students. The Centre has an open and constructive atmosphere which makes it well suited for conducting research when one is not “caught up” in a good conversation or birthday celebration.

Juliette Dixon, England: Since the first day, every member of staff offered me help. I felt part of the Centre. I enjoyed the conversations, formal and informal around coffee, on research and making my way through Cape Town. I also appreciated the exchanges on each other’s progress. I think that curiosity for each other’s work is key to the great atmosphere around the Centre.

John Paul Banchani, Ghana: My attachment at the Centre has been a fundamental turning point in my academic and professional aspirations. It gave me an opportunity to meet world class professors in the field of security, peace and gender, and policing in Africa. It strengthened my confidence in conducting research, exposing me to seminal works of highly rated academics, and showed me new ways of doing things.

Omri Manoach, Holland: I was welcomed as if it was my own university and I was given the use the Centre’s facilities for my research. Over a cup of coffee academics at the Centre provided me with the necessary knowledge and information to carry out my research, and assisted me to put my research into a South African perspective as well as a fresh academic perspective.

Students

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Centre of Criminology6th Level, Wilfred & Jules Kramer Law Building, Middle Campus,

University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7700

Tel: +27 (0)21 650-4486 Fax: +27 (0)21 650-3790

Website: http://www.criminology.uct.ac.za/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/UCT-Centre-of-Criminology/162833496399

Contact: http://www.criminology.uct.ac.za/contacts/

Contact details

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